The Forming of a Legendary Friendship
by daily-chan
Summary: As four boys begin their journey at Hogwarts, unbreakable bonds we know all about were formed. This is the story how they first formed as you follow the Marauders through moments of their first year at Hogwarts. Part of the A Bond of Family series
1. Chapter 1

**The Forming of a Legendary Friendship**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason._

 _Summary: As four boys begin their journey at Hogwarts, unbreakable bonds we know all about were formed. This is the story how they first formed as you follow the Marauders through moments of their first year at Hogwarts._

 _Warnings:_ _Strong bromance, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button._

 _Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story, I swear, your patience is unearthly!_

 _This story is part of a series called A Bond of Family. If you are interested in reading the entire series, then the chronological order can be found on my profile._

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"And so we meet again," James grinned, sitting down between the boy he'd met at the train and the short tempered redhead, ignoring her glare in favour of turning to Sirius.

"Hello again," a small smile was shot his way as the boy turned to him fully. "That was quite the quick sorting."

"No doubt about where I belong," James grinned. "I thought the Hat would never decide for you, though. That took ages!" James exclaimed as it had indeed taken several minutes before the Hat finally called out Gryffindor for his new friend.

"I told you that I might break tradition," a slightly bigger smile spread over Sirius' lips. "He was torn between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for a while, but the latter won in the end."

"I'm glad," James told him honestly before a grimace pulled at his face. "Much better than being stuck with all those know-it-alls for seven years. Most Ravenclaws have very little sense of humour."

"Anything is better than Slytherin, so I am not complaining," he seemed quite pleased with the result despite the rocky reactions his sorting had produced, something James was quite relieved about.

It had confused everyone to not see the Black Heir immediately being sorted into Slytherin like the rest of his relatives, but it had been hilarious to see the shock ripple through the Great Hall when the Hat called out Gryffindor in the end.

"Agreed, but now we can be friends and have fun much more easily than if you had been sorted into Ravenclaw," James mused.

"You still would have wanted to be friends, even if I had been in a different house?" Sirius seemed surprised.

"Of course, why not? It would've been a bit more difficult with curfews and all, but it could've worked," realising he might be coming across a bit strongly, he hesitated. "At least, if you would have liked that?"

"I would have, but luckily we do not even have to try," Sirius smile was almost shy as he nodded and it struck James not for the first time that day how different the boy beside him was from all the other Blacks he'd met.

"I still cannot believe you are related to that lot," immediately realising he had just unintentionally insulted the other's family, James winced but Sirius didn't seem at all offended as his smile grew, a pleased expression crossing his face. "Thank you. I take it that your father will be very proud that you made it into Gryffindor as well?"

"Yeah, he will be," James hesitated as he could feel eyes burning into him and looked up to see several Slytherins glaring in their direction. "Am I right to assume yours might not be quite so happy?"

"You will probably hear that tomorrow if I am not fast enough," Sirius had clearly felt the eyes on them as well, but he didn't look up. "Dungface will no doubt make sure they already know this evening, if her vicious scribbling is anything to go by."

"Dungface?" James tried to ignore the staring by taking a sip of his drink.

"My cousin Narcissa; the blond with the bun and the expression as if she is sniffing dung all around her, never quite realising she is the dung herself."

Snorting pumpkin juice up into his nose, James burst into laughter at the rather crude description and he had no trouble locating the stuck-up blond, who was indeed scribbling away on a piece of parchment. Accepting the napkin Sirius handed him, he nodded. "Rather accurate description. Does she always look like that?"

"Usually, mostly when she deems herself to be surrounded by people who are beneath her status. Charming, is it not?" Sirius suddenly smiled. "Speaking of someone who actually is; James, I would like you to meet Remus. Remus, this is James."

The boy seated on Sirius' other side startled at being addressed so suddenly and James took in the tall boy with short but thick light brown hair he hadn't paid attention to until now. The boy had light green eyes and skin almost as pale as Sirius', but was flushed now as the boy had clearly overheard Sirius' last words.

"Nice to meet you," shaking his hand, James ignored the clamminess of it as he was quite aware the boy was likely quite nervous. He certainly looked like he was and instead of teasing him for it as he might have done at another time, he simply gave the boy a smile.

"Likewise," Remus flushed again, even as he readily answered the smile.

"I figured it might be nice to get to know one another a little better since we will be sharing a dorm for the next seven years, but lost sight of the other one, Peter, during your sorting."

The admission that Sirius had been paying attention to his sorting, left James grinning happily, though he wasn't quite sure why it pleased him so much.

"He is at the end of the table, I think that girl is a relative of his as she beckoned him to her the moment he reached the table," Remus offered.

"It'll only be the four of us?" James raised an eyebrow at the boy who had been sorted before him; a small but fairly overweight boy sporting shoulder length brown hair and was nervously looking around as an older girl was chatting to him and pointing at things.

He looked to be a bit of a spoilsport and quite tame, though James didn't voice his opinion as his first impression of Remus was fairly the same and the brown-haired boy was being nice and pleasant so far. Sirius hadn't struck him as a prank-liking person either and yet the other had laughed when James had shared some small tricks he had used to pull before, even offering some pointers for a next time. So James would withhold judgement until he got to know them all a bit better.

"The sorting is just done, so yes. We'll have three girls in our year," Sirius' words pulled James' attention back to the other two.

"Who?" Remus asked curiously before James could.

"McKinnon, McDonalds and Evans."

"I know the first name well and the second faintly, but the third doesn't ring a bell," James admitted.

"She's the testy red-head we met in the train," Sirius explained and James grimaced at the remembrance of their first meeting, aware his response had been a bit strong when the other boy had insulted his father.

"Think she's still mad about that?"

"From the way she turned away from me immediately when I sat down and the fact that she moved down the row to sit elsewhere when you joined us, I would say she is."

"What happened that she is mad with you?" Remus asked curiously.

"Oh, she came into the compartment we were in and was crying until another boy joined her and told her she'd better be in Slytherin, yeah, I know," James smiled as Remus pulled a face. "I made the mistake of butting in and asking who would ever want to be in Slytherin."

"You probably should not have," Sirius admitted. "But he had no reason to insult you or your father like that over your comment. That was just rude and mean."

"So was me calling him by that nickname as they left."

"There are much worse things one can be called. I do not think there will be any friendship lost there."

Food suddenly appeared before them on the table, making James remember that Sirius had said the sorting was over.

"It's kind of stupid the other boy let himself be pulled aside so quickly. The feast is one of the best places to form friendships and connections."

"It is also a bit stupid of the girl," Remus remarked softly.

"It is, though she is probably just excited that he is in her house. We will no doubt meet him before the evening is through," Sirius reached forward to put some food onto his place and both James and Remus followed his example. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"It is huge," Remus commented. "It is much bigger than I had expected from the stories Dad told me."

"There are probably tons of hidden passages and chambers throughout the castle," Sirius noted and James couldn't help but grin.

"We will just have to find them all as my Dad wouldn't tell me anything. I think he was afraid I will cause mayhem."

"I have only known you for a few hours now, but I am already inclined to agree with him," laughing at Sirius' teasing, James nodded.

"You'd be right in doing so. I can't even remember how often I got into trouble at home. Though it was usually Mum who would be strict while Dad would try to hide his amusement while she berated me."

"Are both of your parents magical?" Curiosity poured out of Remus as he leaned forward eagerly.

"My whole family is, yours?"

"Just my Dad's side, Mum is a Muggle."

"How did she take it when she found out about your father's magic?" Sirius asked interested.

"Surprisingly well. They met through a Boggart and Mum actually arranged for their wedding cake to be shaped like one."

"That's rather odd," James laughed. "In a good way, but odd nonetheless. I can't imagine having a cake of something I feared at my wedding."

"What form did it have on her cake?" Sirius looked at him curiously, making Remus laugh.

"A field Mushroom; it is what Dad changed the vicious-looking man into when he saved her."

"She sounds like she has a wickedly good sense of humour," the praise Sirius gave made Remus smile happily.

"She does and also a very open mind. What about yours?"

"I do not think the word humour exists in their vocabulary and open minds even less so," Sirius huffed, the words not surprising James at all as the Blacks had quite a reputation indeed of being strict and regal.

"Are both of your parents magical as well?"

"Yes. Do you see the Slytherin table?"

"Yeah?" blinking, Remus shifted a little nervously as he spotted the dozen or so students who were still glaring towards them between bites.

"I have the unfortunate displeasure of being related to most of those glaring and they, by default, do not seem to understand the mere concept of humour."

"But you are in Gryffindor," Remus said surprised. "I thought family members usually went to the same house?"

"Usually, not always," James hummed thoughtfully. "But then again, he might as well be related to half the students here, myself included."

"I think your mother is my mother's first cousin," Sirius confirmed. "So that would make you my first cousin once removed, I think."

"You are not certain?" Remus looked confused, though it took James a moment to figure out why.

"Most Pure-Bloods are interrelated in some way. The connections get a little vague at times and I suppose especially for him since most Pure-Bloods married into his family."

"Your father did not," Sirius noted. "He and your mother married under marriageable conditions. I have to say that was a very smart move."

"You are both Pure-Bloods?" Remus' eyes widened in shock and James wondered how he could have missed the uproar Sirius' sorting had caused before realising the other had probably been so nervous about his own sorting that he'd hardly paid any attention to the others around him.

"James Potter, and from your reaction I assume he only introduced himself with his given name to you as well. He is Sirius Black."

His own name didn't seem to ring a bell, but Black did and Remus' eyes widened even more.

"You're..."

"Two boys who are the same as you; new, excited and a little nervous," Sirius sighed.

"But you are a Black," Remus' mind seemed stuck on the surname and James finally understood why the dark-haired boy hadn't given him his surname upon meeting.

The Black family name held a certain expectation to it and most formed a judgement before even meeting the person behind the surname.

Their reputation assured that his parents had cautioned him thoroughly against them and he probably would have left the compartment if he had known who he had taken the seat across of, never even giving the other boy a chance if he'd known exactly who he was. And with good reason as most Blacks proudly embraced their reputation.

But as it was, he had been speaking with the other for over an hour already, long before the disdaining stuck-up prick or the crying red-head had found them and had quickly grown to like the boy; something that had not changed when the other's ancestry was finally revealed.

He hadn't acted at all like the Blacks James had the displeasure of hearing stories about or had met at times; bigoted and stuck-up. Their clear and proudly worn arrogance was putting a serious damper on their genetic good looks as far as James was concerned.

But the short-haired boy beside him, though in possession of those same good looks and likely to grow up into a very handsome man, didn't have a trace of that same arrogance in him. His expression was neutral instead of filled with disdain or pride.

"The surname doesn't make the person," James decided. "My Mum is a Black by birth as well, and she's not at all like the people you are imagining. Sirius is right. We are the same as you; new and excited to learn here, like everyone else."

"Right, of course," Remus blinked rapidly a few times, looking a bit unsure.

"Now that that is out of the way; your parents met through a Boggart?"

The nervous brunet shyly nodded, relaxing more and more as he told Sirius about his parents, becoming more animated when the other inquired further and looked genuinely interested in what he had to say.

The change was remarkable, but James had already noticed Sirius had the same effect on his own nerves as the other's mere presence had been enough to take his homesickness away as the train left the station; leaving his parents behind for the first time. He had a soft kind of aura about him that had a calming effect on those around him.

"So does either of you have any siblings?" Remus' question drew James back into the conversation once more.

"I have a younger brother, Regulus."

"Another star?" Remus inquired curiously, clearly eager to learn more about Sirius, too.

"It is a family tradition to call children after stars. It doesn't matter that it results in some fairly odd names, but the Wizarding world is filled with those."

"Tell me about it," James laughed. "Dad's got a cousin who is called Fleamont and he married a woman named Euphemia."

"That are rather odd names," Remus admitted. "But you both have fairly normal names, though."

"Luckily," Sirius agreed.

"We did. Imagine being stuck with something like that. I don't know what the obsession with odd names is in our world. I'm an only child by the way, though I've always wanted a younger sibling."

"Your parents didn't want a second child?" Remus asked.

"They did, but it was not meant to be. They've wanted children for most of their marriage and had actually already given up by the time I finally came along."

"Your parents are a bit older, then?"

"In their late fifties when they got me, not at all old for a magical person, but fairly old to still expect a child," James smiled. "What about you?"

"I'm an only child as well. My parents wanted a second child, but eventually decided then that one was enough," Remus swallowed thickly and James refrained from asking further as it was clearly a painful subject. "Never could quite make up my mind if I wanted to have a sibling or not."

"If you would like, you could have mine?" Sirius' offer broke the sadness that seemed to have pulled over Remus as he choked out a nervous laugh, clearly not sure if he was quite serious or not.

"You don't like your little brother?"

"No. I'd have fed him to his beloved snakes if I thought I could have gotten away with it," Sirius seemed to catch onto his disbelief and elaborated. "He is only a year younger and a Slytherin through and through. We are the complete opposites and any interaction we've had has always been strained and filled with arguing."

"I see," Remus trailed off, clearly unsure.

"You are more than welcome to have him, I'll even wrap a bow around him," Sirius' smile was slightly manic, though Remus' resulting laughter was more freely this time.

"I think I will pass if you are that eager to get rid of him."

"Wise decision. I've met Regulus once at a gathering and he is a stuck-up little prick with disgusting views of the world, no offence," James tossed at Sirius, aware that even if he claimed not to like his brother, he was still family.

"That is putting it lightly, actually. I often felt the desire to strangle the little brat and that is when he is not even talking or being particularly annoying," Sirius raised his glass to his mouth to take a sip, pausing before it could reach his mouth. "Though I feel that way about most of my relatives, so it could just be me, too."

Once more pumpkin juice shot up James' nose as he'd just taken a sip, coughing roughly between his laughter and from the coughing echoing his own, Remus had suffered the same response.

Calmly patting both of their backs before taking a sip of his water, Sirius smiled. "So, what do you guys expect from the first few weeks?"

It didn't take long before all three were laughing at the new topic. Remus was very pleasant and had a great sense of humour as he relaxed completely and Sirius proved to be utterly wicked in his responses, more than once sending them both into fits of laughter.

James had no doubt that the upcoming months would be utterly interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

Soft sounds coming from the Common Room had Sirius unfold from his curled up position at the window, where he had been since shortly after the others had fallen asleep, and quietly made his way to the door.

Self-preservation had him listening at the door for the sound of voices; the red-haired Prewett twins and Frank Longbottom had been nice enough, but everyone else had looked at him wearily and Sirius was unwilling to face all those curious gazes so soon after escaping them.

He knew it wasn't behaviour befitting a true Gryffindor, but then he never had any delusions that he was. If anything he was as far from a Gryffindor as they came and although grateful, it still surprised him that the Hat had allowed him to be placed there.

Glancing back at the three sleeping boys behind him, a small smile spread over his lips as he remembered how they had interacted with him before.

He never had any friends; his parents had made sure he had been sheltered and hidden; beating any delusion of ever having companionship out of him early on as he was not the child they wanted him to be.

As used as he was to it, it had left him lonely as he hadn't lied when he had told the boys he didn't get along with his younger brother. Not that they had been allowed anywhere near each other outside of gatherings to prevent the more naive boy from adopting his abominable views, or so his mother had snapped at him multiple times when he had been younger and had shown interest in his little brother.

But it hardly mattered in the end anyway; for the times they were to interact on gatherings, Sirius found Regulus to be a spoiled little brat, clashing with him constantly and always ending with his brother running off to tell their parents and resulting in another lesson in behaviour for him once they returned to the house.

He had wondered if it wouldn't simply have been better to keep quiet and listen to what his parents were trying to teach him, but glancing back at the three boys once more, he couldn't make himself regret it.

For all that his parents had told him Muggles, Muggle-born and Half-Bloods were beneath them, he found Peter and especially Remus to be quite nice company and looked forward to getting to know them better.

It was James he had been drawn to immediately on the train, feeling comfortable with the other boy despite not knowing him and in turn it had made him neglect to tell him who he was so that he had a chance at proper companionship, even if it was just for a little while.

It had been a pleasant surprise when James had not immediately left the compartment upon learning his identity eventually, but had instead continued their conversation like it didn't matter, and perhaps, to him, it did not.

It had given Sirius hope that he might actually have found someone who he could interact with and dare-say, perhaps even befriend with some time.

A foolish hope, as he was sure to be sorted into that hated house no matter how much he hated it and joked he might break tradition.

So when the Sorting Hat had told him he was not compatible with Slytherin, he could have cried in relief and hope had surged through him. Perhaps Ravenclaw would have been the safer and more acceptable place as his relatives, although unhappy, would not have condemned him for as much.

But he couldn't stop his hope from growing as the Hat mentioned Gryffindor, for that is where he knew the other boy would be sorted. No doubt about that with how friendly, strong and utterly daring the other was and from a long line of Gryffindors as well.

And although he didn't quite believe he had it in him to be a Gryffindor like the Sorting Hat seemed to believe, the Hat had immediately picked up on that spark of hope.

Had told him that although that path would be much more difficult for him, it might also bring him much joy and he had wanted to take that chance with both hands. For much more than a good education; more than a chance to get away from his upbringing, he craved companionship; family, a friend he could truly call his own and wasn't imaginary.

He had sensed the potential for both in the dark-haired boy instinctively, something the Hat had agreed with as he had called out Gryffindor for all to hear before Sirius could come to his senses and know how foolish it was to think that way.

Yet it was that hope for a true companion and the whispered unspoken promise of friendship that held Sirius steady as he rose to his feet, pretending that he did not feel anything at the shocked silence that had fallen over students and teachers alike; the Deputy Headmistress looking down at him with a mix of curiosity and something he dared not try to identify.

He had been terrified out of his mind as he slowly realised just what he had willingly put himself up for, had chosen Gryffindor over a relatively safe choice and all because of his traitorous desire.

But before he could truly warp his mind around what he'd done, James had let out a cheerful exclamation of triumph.

It had not only broken through the stunned silence as he made his way to his new House, a slow applause starting up as he sat down among his new house mates, but also through the fear that was rapidly growing inside him as his heart hammered in his throat at the choice he had just made.

Forcing himself to look up once seated, to not show doubt or weakness to anyone, he had tried to find James in the waiting students for some form of reassurance when green eyes caught his own. The boy they belonged to looked utterly uncomfortable among the other newcomers, altering between looking around the Great Hall and staring at the ground as nauseating nerves obviously raced through his veins as he was eventually called up.

But it wasn't the nervousness that had caught Sirius' attention, it was the loneliness in those eyes that felt so incredibly familiar to how he'd felt all his life that made him curious about the boy and less than a minute later the choice was made that allowed Sirius the chance to make that look go away, at least for a little while.

The taller boy had automatically taken the seat beside him as he shifted, and ignoring the testy red-haired girl on his other side after her reaction to recognising him from the train; like he could help that her friend was a rude and insulting prick, he had drawn the nervous and surprised boy into a conversation before his own nerves took over and made him keep quiet, losing the chance.

He remembered how his heart had hammered in his throat as James had eventually been called up, falling silent from the conversation with Remus as he watched the boy's confidence tremble for just one moment.

But they proved to be completely unnecessary as the Hat barely touched his head before calling out Gryffindor and their eyes met almost immediately as James beamed; Sirius' doubts about his choice settled with that mere look.

He hadn't been wrong about the connection he had felt as James joined them, the three of them connecting without any difficulties. The ease he had immediately felt with the two made him say far more than he had ever intended to, but he couldn't bring himself to fully regret it as both boys didn't shun him for what he said; laughing with him instead.

And although Sirius wasn't entirely sure about the fourth boy yet, not having had that pull with him as he had with James and Remus, he looked forward to finally, for the first time in his life have the chance to form proper bonds.

Another sound from the Common Room pulled him out of his thoughts and with a last glance at the sleeping boys; he slipped out of the dorm.

Curling his fingers around the wand hidden in his sleeve, Sirius quietly stepped down into the Common Room, gaze immediately finding the small form near the fireplace where apparently a glass had been broken.

Recognising the small form immediately, his stomach clenched and he automatically braced for the creature's special brand of magic to slam into him and punish him for not being sorted where his parents wanted him to be.

But instead of cruel narrowed blue eyes snapping to him, large and softer blue ones did as the little house-elf whirled around at some sound he must have made.

They simply stared at each other for a long moment, Sirius unsure of what to do when faced with a House-elf clearly not belonging to the Blacks while the little female elf seemed surprised to see him.

"Tiffy is sorry, Sir. Tiffy did not think students were still awake. Tiffy shall not bother yous," the little elf immediately apologised and recognising her movements as retreating as she bowed, Sirius called out before he could think about it.

"Wait...you...you do not have to go. It is me who is interrupting your work," Sirius swallowed as she looked up to him, a cold shiver running down his spine at the title and he had to fight the urge to turn tail and run back to the dorm. "I did not mean to startle you; I heard sounds and came to investigate. I did not realise Hogwarts had House-elves as well."

Though how he could not have known was a mystery as surely the castle needed several dozen to keep everything clean. Though he had learned to be wary of the capabilities of a House elf, this particularly House elf reminded him more of his grandfather's elves Dinky and Tuffy than Kreacher. The resemblance of calm and kindness radiating off of her enough to put him more on ease.

"There are hundreds of us, Sir" the little elf made no move to leave any more as she gazed up to him curiously. "Why is Sir awake at this time?"

"Sirius," clearing his throat as the little elf looked at him confused, he shifted uncomfortable and tried not to think about the apparently hundreds of house-elves moving around in the shadows. "My name, it...eh...it is Sirius."

"Protocol indicates House elves should refer to any student as Sir or Miss," the little elf looked hesitant and a little unsure of him but Sirius couldn't stop another shiver from running down his spine at the title, being painfully reminded to how Kreacher would sneeringly call him little Master before hurting him with his magic. "Anything less would nots be respectful."

"I do not really care about respect," Sirius swallowed again. "I mean, I would be quite grateful if you would not refer to me as Sir...it is...I mean..."

The little House-elf, Tiffy, he firmly told himself, must have seen something in his gaze for she nodded and interrupted him softly. "Tiffy will try, Sirius."

"Thank you," relief flooded through him and he glanced at the broken glass. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No Si..Sirius, Tiffy is fine," she smiled at him, the effect it had on her small features enough to squash any lingering doubt he had about her.

"I am glad you are all right," without thinking, he moved forward to help her clean it up, tensing as he realised how offensive that might appear and how she might react. "I am sorry; I did not mean to do your work...I..."

He hastily stepped back, a strong tingle of pain distracting him from where he was stepping and making him slip on the wet stones of the fireplace but surprisingly strong hands caught him and he found himself looking up into Tiffy's eyes as she braced him as much as she could as he went down.

"Why is yous so afraid of Tiffy?" the concern on her features and the warmth in her large blue eyes quieting his fear down somewhat.

"I...," Sirius swallowed, slipping out her hold to sit up on his own, grimacing as pain shot up through his foot and gingerly pulled his foot out from under him to find a small piece of glass embedded in the sole of his foot.

"Oh nos," Tiffy immediately reached for his foot, but paused as he tensed. Large blue eyes met his and held his gaze as she reached down and placed her hand on his foot before finally looking down at the glass. "Tiffy will fix Sirius' hurt, no worries."

"I am not, I did not mean to give you trouble," Sirius murmured, letting her pull the glass out without barely noticing it but trying to shift away as she conjured a bandage. "I can heal it; you do not have to..."

"Tiffy would like to," she interrupted him softly, large blue eyes fixed on wrapping the bandage around his foot before looking up to him again once she was done.

"Thank you," swallowing thickly, Sirius pulled his foot under him again; sitting crossed legged before her when she indicated he should stay where he was. "I am sorry; I did not mean to make your work more difficult."

She glanced at him curiously as she quickly cleaned the glass up before turning to him with a hot cup. "Drink this."

"I...thank you," aware of her eyes on him, he took a small sip of the hot chocolate, relishing in the soft flavour. "I am not usually this clumsy."

"Tiffy will need to sees that before believing."

It took him a moment to realise she was teasing him and he couldn't help but chuckle softly. "I am not afraid of you."

"Not Tiffy, but another elf yous are afraid of," her intelligence did not surprise Sirius as he knew how brilliant and cunning Tuffy had been before...cutting his own thoughts off immediately, he found himself nodding before he could stop himself.

"You are nothing like him, though. You more remind me of another House-elf I have known; he was very kind as well."

"Tiffy is happy about that," she smiled. "Sirius should go to bed, though. It is much too late."

"I'm all right," he smiled as he watched her, suddenly wanting nothing more than to get to know her a little better. Cement her kindness into his mind so that he'd not forget not all House elves were the same. "Would you mind if I stayed here and watched you work for a little bit?"

"Sirius wants to stay with Tiffy?" Now she truly did look surprised. "Why?"

"Because you are nice and kind to me and I would like to," Sirius hesitated before deciding she deserved an honest answer. One he hadn't wanted to admit to himself was what had kept him from getting comfortable in the bed up in the dorm and had instead found him in the window sill. "Because I am afraid to close my eyes. To open them again and find out that this is all just a dream and I'm not really here."

He tried not to shift nervously as she looked at him for a long moment in silence, but she surprised him with not demanding an answer to his words. "You may stay."

"Thank you."

"Has Sirius ever heard of Hogwarts missing Diadem?"

"No," Sirius wasn't quite aware how much time passed as Tiffy spoke to him, telling him about the legend of the missing Diadem and Hogwarts in general, nor was he aware of having fallen asleep until he was pulled out of it drowsily by small hands pulling a blanket over him.

"Shhh, yous should return to sleep, this is not a dream," the now familiar voice of Tiffy whispered softly to him, no longer making him tense as he curled up deeper into the blanket pulled around him, only half wondering how he had returned to the dorm before sleep pulled him under again even as small hands brushed the fringe from his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Resisting the urge to look back, Sirius hurried over the deserted Quidditch fields, silently cursing himself as he ran.

If he had just gone right at the turn, he would have been able to hide in the kitchens; his pursuers wouldn't have dared to harm the house-elves working there and he was fairly sure Tiffy would have hidden him from them if asked.

But he hadn't dared to take the risk that they would hurt them, hurt her, and had taken a left turn, leading him out of the castle and an easy target should they catch up to him enough.

Spotting the Whomping Willow, he hesitated just briefly and ducked to avoid a spell making it scarily close before adjusting his course so he was heading right for it. Trying to regulate his breathing as he picked up as much speed as he could, he ran around the tree before abruptly turning.

It was surprisingly easy to dive underneath the tree, almost breaking an arm as he rolled to avoid several branches coming his way and slammed his back against the trunk.

Making himself as small as he could while the tree violently swung its branches around, he hoped they truly had been far enough away to not see what he had done and would just take the trees violent behaviour as him having ran past it.

As he had gambled on, the tree could not reach him where he was seated, even folding itself in half and slamming its branches in as far as it could, he was small enough to not be in danger from the tree itself and the constant moment assured he was completely hidden from view.

Yet, upon hearing the voices of his relatives coming nearer, he couldn't help but try and make himself even smaller, shifting back until he suddenly tumbled backwards into an unseen hole in the roots with a small yelp, the wind knocked out of him as he landed on the hard ground.

Coughing as dust and earth flew up in his face, Sirius scrambled to his feet, knocking his head painfully.

"What..." with burning eyes and a throbbing head, he managed to detect he had landed in some sort of tunnel, though it was too dark to see where it might end.

Shoving his curiosity down for now, he managed to peer over the edge by balancing on a root so that he could see the Slytherins, led by several of his older relatives. They were yelling at each other as they searched for him, steering clear of the Whomping Willow but not quick enough to avoid it from getting several hits in as they miscalculated the distance the tree could reach.

Sighing, he slid back down and turned back to the tunnel, deciding to see if he could find out where it ended since it looked like he'd not go anywhere any time soon.

He had been right in that Narcissa had written to his parents immediately and in turn they had not wasted any time to send howler after howler to him.

Thankfully he had expected them to do so, should he hopefully end up in any house but Slytherin, so he had scoured the library at his grandfather's house after Heir lessons for months, trying to find a way to deal with them.

In the end he had been forced to become creative and a small smile crossed his lips as he remembered the look of amazement on his new companions' faces as he had blown up that first howler at breakfast of their first day of lessons.

It had been well worth the detention his Head of House had rewarded him to not have to hear his parents humiliate him in front of all the students; in front of the three boys he had befriended.

He had no qualms about the type of things his mother would have screamed about, especially as he had spent the evening talking with the Potter Heir; a severe blood traitor in their eyes.

It was clear that Narcissa had immediately written her again to inform her of how her howlers ended up as she had now enlisted the stuck-up Slytherin's help to put him in his place.

Narcissa's beloved boyfriend had rounded up several so-called trustworthy Slytherins to teach him a lesson, each and every one of them eager to win the approval of the Black matriarch; in the hopes of gaining favour for the future.

Sirius' only luck was that they had clearly assumed he would be powerless and had obviously not counted on the first year to know so many defensive spells.

He had made quick use of their surprise to take half of them out before running, all those years secretly practising in his grandfather's house with a spare wand paying off now.

The tunnel was narrow and even as small as he was; he still had to bend a little to make his way through it and was thankful he was not claustrophobic as it was a narrow tunnel.

He wasn't sure how long he'd walked but eventually the tunnel began to lead up and he spotted a light in the distance, leading to an open hatch; he climbed through it and looked around confused as he seemed to have gotten to a house of some sorts.

A very odd house with no doors and windows and furniture that looked like it had seen better days.

Everything in the living room was basic and clearly old and uncared for; nobody lived here.

He was about to head upstairs when he heard voices echoing through the hatch and terrified his relatives had figured out what he'd done, he dashed up the staircase to let himself into the bedroom the furthest away, locking the door manually in the hopes they would not notice him.

A quick inventory showed him a large four-poster bed and he quickly hid below it as the voices grew louder, until he could hear them inside the house.

"Anything you want to keep safe, you just place in this cupboard. It has been warded so you cannot break it. I will be back after moon-set," an unfamiliar voice spoke. "Good luck, dear."

"Thank you," it was a surprise to hear Remus' voice and he wondered what he was doing here or what could possibly make the other boy's voice sound so small.

One pair of footsteps moved away and Sirius was just able to make out when the footsteps changed from walking on wood to hard ground, realising she was leaving his classmate behind as the hatch was closed behind her.

After several minutes of no telling sounds, Sirius slid out from under the bed and crept to the wall, having spotted several tiny holes in the wood that he could peek through to see what was going on before he would give his presence away.

His eyes widened as he realised Remus had undressed, just sitting in the middle of the room like it was completely normal to do so and uncomfortable Sirius shifted, intent on quietly slipping away before he would see anything embarrassing.

But as he rose to his feet, Remus suddenly let out a strangled cry and he ducked low again, horrified to see his classmate double over in clear agony, his body trembling.

Intent on going to his side, whatever the heck he had walked into be damned, he tensed as Remus' body began to lengthen, hair sprouting over his body as his hands, just barely visible from their clenched position in front of his stomach, curled into clawed paws.

A snarl tore through bone and marrow as bones visibly snapped and rearranged themselves, changing Remus' body and terror washed over Sirius as he watched the boy transform into a werewolf.

Memories of a similar event flashed through his mind and he scrambled backwards, his heart hammering in his throat and cold fear paralysing him in place.

He could only watch with growing panic as the werewolf straightened, growl full of menace as he got his bearings and Sirius' stomach clenched at the terrifying sight of claws and teeth.

His whimpered in fear as the wolf suddenly slammed into the living room door, the other doors rattling in their hinges at the brute force behind the vicious way he threw himself against the door to break it open, realising the werewolf was able to smell him all the way from there.

It took him an agonising moment to squash his fear and panic down as it would not help him now before he could scramble to his feet as the werewolf growled menacing; casting the most powerful concealment charms he could think of with trembling hands.

Almost immediately the werewolf stopped as Sirius' scent disappeared; a horrible bloodthirsty howl taking over the growls and Sirius made himself as small as he could in the corner of the bedroom, not daring to look through the tiny hole as the wolf padded across the room and snarled as he tore into the furniture now that his prey was apparently gone.

Sirius whimpered as the bedroom door rattled once more when something was thrown against the wall, trying to push down the memory of a different enraged werewolf slamming himself against a cage.

The fear and terror of that night came back to him in full force and once more he had to fight with all his might to keep his panic down, tensing even more as the creature suddenly yipped in between snarls.

Still it took him a few moments before he gathered up enough courage to risk a glance through the small hole; afraid any moment would still give him away.

But in the end his need to know what was going on won and he slipped back to the hole, peering through it in time to see the wolf was attacking himself viciously.

"No..." helplessly, he could only watch as the animal tore into his own skin, ducking low as the wolf's head snapped around and growled at the small sound.

The sight of blood dripping from those teeth was enough to make Sirius' stomach turn once more and he quickly looked away, not having any desire to see the damage the wolf was inflicting on himself as the wolf resumed his actions at the lingering silence.

As the wolf alternated between destroying more furniture and damaging his own skin, damage Sirius knew Remus would bear the aftermaths of, he began raking his brain for all the healing spells he knew.

Knowing he would have no way of leaving undetected for the rest of the night, he mentally went over anything that might be useful as he knew Remus would bear the marks the wolf left once he turned back.

Swallowing thickly, he glanced back through the hole as the wolf yelped again; he needed a moment to locate him properly and could just make out a broken chair leg sticking out of the animal's upper hind leg and couldn't prevent his wince as the enraged creature tore the piece from his leg, uncaring of any damage he might inflict on himself before he licked at the fresh wound.

With the initial terror fading as his mind managed to recognise the sheer difference in situations, compassion for Remus washed over him instead as he watched the animal sit down, panting heavily.

A pang of sadness shot through him at the memory of the other werewolf he had known, the one he had met years ago and although he had never learned the man's name, he had no trouble recalling his face despite the years that had passed.

But that wolf had been both much larger and his frame littered in scars that Remus' wolf form didn't have just yet.

Recalling how he had run into the kind middle-aged homeless man after running from Grimmauld Place as a small child, he remembered the kind smile and the water given despite limited supplies.

But his parents had found him fairly quickly and despite his pleads, they had imprisoned the kind man in a cellar with four Muggles, two of them children just a few years older than he had been at the time.

He himself had been locked up there as well, in a cage just big enough to contain him and from there he had been forced to watch helplessly as the man changed into a vicious monster when the full moon came out, tearing the four apart before his very eyes.

The terror and fear he had felt then was not something he would ever forget, though he couldn't bring himself to hate the man.

Not when he had seen how the man had kept pleading to let the Muggles go, to keep them safe from him and had actually tried to knock himself out once he began to change. It had been no use, though, as his pleas had fallen to deaf ears.

How could he have hated that man when, upon changing back, the man had broken down in realisation of what he had done, devastated by his involuntarily actions and it had been in that moment that Sirius had truly known just how wrong his parents were in their prejudiced beliefs.

It was not the man who was the monster, but the people who had made an example of an innocent victim and had killed him before his eyes, the man's identification mark still burned into his eyes.

He hadn't been able to do anything for the man, but, as he glanced back through the hole, he knew he might be able to do something for Remus.

He didn't really know the other boy very well yet, but he had already been able to determine early on that he wanted to. The shyness and nervousness at the start of their interactions and the loneliness in his eyes finally made sense.

How long ago had the boy been bitten? A child at most; barely a teenager and by default condemned for something no one would willingly choose.

Just how much prejudice had he had to deal with so far?

Taking a deep breath, Sirius immediately scratched people knowing off, always having to watch every shadow had taught him to notice as much details as he could and he had noticed several scars littering Remus' body.

He himself was by no means a stranger to scars and the sight of them had not shocked him, but they did give him an estimated time-line as even from a distance, he could tell they were from a longer period of time.

So it was likely Remus had been bitten at least a few years ago and as he didn't have an identification code branded into his collarbone, Sirius knew his parents had not taken him to St Mungo's after being bitten.

How terrified he must have been; the curse burning through his veins and no way to lessen the pain lest he be branded and registered like a common animal as was the norm for any found werewolf.

Sirius had no doubt the boy's parents had done everything they could to keep it a secret, no question about that with how lovingly Remus had spoken about them over the last four days.

Everything in his entire being screamed of how much he loved his parents and it was clear to Sirius that they were the kind who would try to protect him. To do so would mean keeping him hidden as much as possible so people wouldn't figure out his secret.

As Remus had already admitted to not having had many friends before, a fate Sirius had unfortunately shared while growing up, he believed the other would be terrified once he realised his secret was out.

Though Sirius had no intention of telling anyone the other's secret, he would have to convince Remus that he wouldn't sell him out to anyone.

And in the meantime, he could try and help the other as much as he could. Maybe take notes and help him study if he missed classes while meanwhile learning more healing magic, hopefully able to help him deal with lingering injuries.

But most importantly, Sirius could make sure he took good care of himself as he had already seen the other ate little at mealtimes and although he had originally put it down to nerves and homesickness, he now believed the loss of appetite might have had to do with pre-transformation sickness; so he'd make sure the other took care of himself and ate something even when not feeling well.

Chocolate specifically was known to have healing effects after being hit with dark magic and might help Remus as well. Remus certainly loved it so it wouldn't do any harm.

Glancing through the hole once more to see the wolf curled up, he retrieved a quill and parchment from his bag as quietly as he could and scribbled a quick note to Honeydukes for an order of chocolate.

It occurred to him that Remus might react oddly to a sudden gift and it might raise suspicion with James; who Sirius had already realised was much smarter than people gave him credit for, he quickly scribbled a few more sentences down to cover his tracks. Folding it and putting it into his pocket, he hoped that with a little bit of luck, he would be able to receive his order at breakfast already as he knew there was a branch of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

A different kind of whimper caught his attention and he watched in mortified interest as the wolf began to change, bones rearranging themselves into a human form again.

Grabbing his bag, Sirius pulled the blanket from the bed and quietly made his way downstairs, peering through a half cracked door just in time to be able to rush forward to catch the other as he collapsed.

Remus was a lot heavier than he had thought, and he only barely managed to prevent his head from banging into the ground, carefully lowering him onto the ground.

Working quickly, he managed to get Remus onto the blanket he had brought and strode to one of the walls where a tiny bit of light came through, trying to determine the time.

The female voice had said that she would be back after moon-set, meaning there was about an hour left before the moon would be completely gone.

He had a suspension that the woman in question would be the castle Healer he had yet to meet, but he didn't dare to take the risk as Remus was still bleeding and set out to heal as much of the wounds as he could. Rooting around in his bag for the bottle of Dittany he always carried around in preparation of dark magic being used against him, he managed to at least heal the worst of it.

Treating all the wounds he could see, Sirius hesitated as he remembered the chair leg the wolf had impaled himself on and bracing himself for what kind of damage he might find, he pulled Remus' leg aside so that he could see the wound clearly.

A small piece of wood was still lodged into the thigh, preventing the wound from bleeding too much and he considered leaving it until Madam Pomfrey could look at it, but almost immediately decided against it as the jarred edges might splinter and end up hurting him even worse.

Sitting back on his heels for a moment as he tried to decide how to pull it out, he eventually decided to do so magically to ensure he would cause the least amount of damage, though he was surprised to see that even the jarred sharp edges of the piece were smooth.

It told him the wood had been magically made and he was thankful no splinters would have come off it, even though he checked the now freely bleeding wound to be absolutely certain.

Applying Dittany, he was sad to see it would mostly likely scar rather oddly, though it would be the least noticeable due to its location and for that he was relieved.

At long last he was satisfied with his work and covered Remus with the blanket to preserve his dignity from both him and for when Madam Pomfrey would arrive.

He debated getting a pillow, but in the end decided against it as it would mean moving him once more and sat beside him for a long moment, torn in indecision as he finally had time to think again now that the boy beside him was taken care of.

Staying at Remus' side, he could explain that he had accidentally gotten into the tunnel and had hidden, unable to get away before he had changed and therefore had seen his secret being revealed.

It would be the most straightforward and honest approach, but it would also most likely leave him horrified and humiliated to have his secret exposed in such a horrid way.

Glancing at the hatch, Sirius bit his lip, wondering if it might be better if he left and approached Remus later so the boy would not panic at his sight here.

It would mean leaving Remus alone, leaving him to wonder who had taken care of his wounds and now knew his secret and as much as Sirius hated the idea, he couldn't help but consider it, toying with the idea of not telling him at all that he knew.

Because staying meant that any chance at a true friendship might be ruined as the other would forever be nervous, his fear clouding any future interactions they would have and that thought pained Sirius more than he expected.

The hope that had risen in him on that first day had grown tremendously the more he interacted with the three boys in his dorm and for the first time in his life, Sirius felt like he could say he was gaining friendship with them.

One of which was now on the line as he had discovered a terrible secret, but as much as he didn't care that Remus was a werewolf; and he truly didn't, this would forever stand between them and he would most likely lose Remus as a friend because of it.

Something he didn't want to happen as he rather liked Remus and he selfishly didn't want to jeopardise the chance they had to make this potential companionship into a true friendship.

He was very aware it was selfish to take this path, but he still rose to his feet after tucking the other in more properly so he would not get cold.

He wrote a quick note to reassure him his secret was safe, hesitating for another moment as he glanced back at the unconscious boy on the floor but ultimately climbed through even though guilt ate at him as he hurried back through the tunnel.

He vowed to himself that he would just do everything he could to care for Remus and show him he could be trusted and maybe he could tell him the truth someday.

If anything, the note would hopefully give Remus consolation and some comfort that there was no danger of being exposed.

After all, a note holding a promise that could not be broken; a vow to never reveal their secret and a wish to hopefully feel better soon, had to mean something positive, right?


	4. Chapter 4

Dropping down beside Sirius in the Great Hall for breakfast the morning of their fifth day, James dumped his bag on the bench between them.

"Tell me, what is the point of having such a heavy load all day? Do they want to give us back problems later in life?" He complained by way of greeting as he rubbed his shoulders, the distance from Gryffindor Tower to the Great Hall already enough to make them burn.

"Good morning to you as well," Sirius' greeting made James blink surprised as the other looked even paler than usual and fairly tired.

"Sorry, morning. Are you feeling all right?"

"I did not get much sleep last night, no worries about it. Would you like some help with your bag?"

"How?"

"A Feather-Light Charm. I looked it up and so far it works really well. I already applied it to Remus and Peter's bags as they complained about the same thing, but couldn't find yours."

"Is that what you were up to yesterday? I hadn't seen you since before dinner."

"Kind of. I wanted to get a bit of fresh air but forgot the time. It was fairly easy to sneak back to the dorm despite it being far after curfew, though. For all their threats about it, patrolling teachers are pathetically easy to avoid."

"I didn't hear you return tonight," James admitted.

"Not surprising, Peter's snoring truly is loud. But I was extra quiet while sneaking back in to not wake you," holding up his wand, Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow and James happily held up his bag, sighing in relief as the bag was suddenly weightless moments later.

"Thank you, it hadn't occurred to me to use something like that."

"I noticed none of the older students are dragging their bags around despite having more classes and asked around. If you would like, I could teach you?" Sirius' gaze shifted past him for a moment before he stirred four spoonfuls of sugar into the bowl of porridge he had just poured.

"I thought you weren't too fond of sweets?" James watched the other confused.

It was one of the two things he had learned early on; Sirius didn't have much of a sweet tooth compared to the rest of them and he wasn't very used to touch. It was why he had dropped his bag between them, as a reminder to keep some personal space between them instead of constantly causing the other to tense by brushing against him.

"I am not, it is not for me. You are right on time."

James looked up to see Remus approach and he smiled as the other sat down across of them.

"Welcome back, how is your mother?" His smile faded as he got a good look at the other's face and realised he was as pale as Sirius and looked even more tired. Not to mention that he was clearly favouring a leg and looking around the Great Hall nervously. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," Remus responded with a tight smile, managing to look both ready to fall asleep at any moment and tense at the same time. "She is doing a little better. It was kind of Professor Dumbledore to allow me to visit her."

"It was, what happened to your leg? You weren't limping yesterday."

"I- I twisted it when I slipped down the stairs upon returning here. Madam Pomfrey already checked it and said it would be fine within a few days."

Humming in sympathy, James caught Sirius relax from the corner of his eyes, suddenly realising the other had been fairly tense. But all trace of it was gone as he leaned forward to place the bowl of sweetened porridge before Remus.

"You need to eat well or you will get sick yourself. And please be more careful next time."

"I couldn't possibly... thank you," James could barely stifle a laugh as Remus dutifully tucked into the porridge at Sirius' raised eyebrow.

"He's got you drilled rather well already, hasn't he?"

"Shush and eat your toast," Sirius commanded playfully and James threw him a lazy salute.

"Yes, boss," humming he took up his own meal, meeting Remus' amused eyes as the other snorted.

"Good lad," Sirius patted his head like he was an infant before lifting James' bag up and dumping it on the ground with the other bags.

Meeting his dark-haired friend's eyes surprised, James flushed as the other rolled his eyes knowingly, clearly aware why he had put it there but having none of it even if it did make him a little uncomfortable.

"That reminds me, what did you guys do to my bag?" Remus seemed unaware of their silent conversation, still looking a little distracted as he ate his porridge.

"I put a Feather-Light Charm on it this morning. Did the same for Peter and would have done so for James if I could have found it. You were saying it was so heavy and I finally got the spell down so figured I would apply it already."

"Ah, I left it in the Common Room last night," James smiled sheepishly.

"But that is a second year charm, how..."

"I refuse to spend years carrying a heavy bag so I looked it up once I knew the spell and learned it," Sirius shrugged like it was no big deal. "I figured you guys would probably like to make use of it as well."

"I do, thank you. But it is fairly advanced magic, how did you manage to learn it without guidance?" Remus cocked his head curiously.

"It was not that difficult; I doubt it would give you any difficulties if you would like to learn it, too."

"I'd love to, but I think you have too much faith in my abilities. Unlike the two of you, I haven't even gotten the Levitation Charm down properly yet," Remus admitted.

"If you would like us to, we could help you practice?" Sirius offered and James nodded in agreement.

"Peter already asked for my help so maybe we can hold a weekly study time where we practice together."

"Won't that slow you both down instead? I mean, you both pick up things much more easily than we do and that will still take a lot of your time," Remus' expression was a perfect mix between hopefulness and worry and for a moment James thought about teasing him a little, but Sirius took the option away by shaking his head and reassuring him immediately.

"Although I cannot speak for James, I do not think the lessons will keep me very occupied by what I have seen so far. They are rather boring so helping you study will be a welcome challenge."

"I agree, the lessons seem rather easy," James agreed as he thought back to what they'd learned so far, most of which he would be capable of doing in his sleep. "We could set up a regular time to study together? When would be smart?"

"I think either after or just before dinner might be smartest. We could either go to the library or our dorm, depending on what we are studying at the time," Sirius mused. "Or if it are spells that might inflict damage, we could find ourselves an unused classroom to ensure our possessions remain unharmed."

"That might not be such a bad idea," James ran a hand through his hair. "Not only would it keep our possessions safe, but it would also keep any burnt or otherwise unpleasant smells out of our sleeping space."

"You truly don't mind helping out?"

"No," James and Sirius smiled in unison and Remus slumped relieved in his seat relieved.

"Thank you, both of you."

"Don't thank us yet, you do not know if we will be of any help yet," Sirius glanced around. "Has either of you seen Peter already this morning?"

"He rolled out of bed when I left the dorm," James sighed, feeling slightly guilty that he had left the dorm without their last classmate. "You were already gone and I couldn't be bothered to wait even longer."

"I think it's pretty much a bother to wait for each other for breakfast as we're not all awake at the same time," Remus said. "I've noticed that Sirius is usually up much earlier than we are and it wouldn't be fair to make him wait until we roll out of bed."

"I do not mind waiting," Sirius shrugged. "It is much nicer to all eat together when we can, though it might not always be practical in the weekend."

"We could always just meet up for lunch and dinner then. But you are right; I've noticed that Peter seems to have severe difficulties getting out of bed," Remus picked up the banana Sirius slid towards him after he finished his porridge.

"Maybe we ought to make a routine to wake him up in time and prevent him from costing all of us points for nothing?" Sirius suggested as he picked up a pear and apple and slid them into his bag, Remus following his example even as an apple was held out to James himself.

"Thanks, an alarm clock doesn't really work; he sleeps right through it."

"His snoring is louder than any alarm you might set out non-magically," Sirius snorted. "Here, take this as well."

He pulled out a bar of hazelnut chocolate from his bag and slid it over the table to Remus.

"I couldn't..."

"Where'd you get the chocolate from? The little shop here at Hogwarts doesn't open until our second week, doesn't it?" James asked confused.

"I sent an order to Honeydukes early this morning, but despite their utterly amazing reaction time, they sent back the wrong bars. I was going to throw them away, but then I remembered you mentioned that you love hazelnut chocolate so I thought I would donate them to you instead."

"You shouldn't..." Remus trailed off as Sirius pushed the bar into his hands.

"Just take it and make sure you eat some of that, might even make you feel better," Sirius ordered as he clearly saw just as well as James how pale and tired Remus looked.

"I...thank you," accepting the bar with a nod, Remus broke a piece off and slid the rest into his bag. "You have a good memory though; didn't I tell you that at the welcoming feast?"

"I just pay attention," Sirius smiled.

"I have to admit that I didn't remember, though I do remember that you like milk chocolate the most," James grinned, relieved to see that some colour returned to Remus' complexion as he ate the chocolate.

"Same as you," Sirius answered his grin readily.

"Did you at least get new bars? It's not like Honeydukes to make such an error," James blinked as Sirius' twitched for a moment before smiling disarmingly.

"They did and told me I could keep the wrong ones. Why do you not have one as well?" Sirius pulled another bar from his bag and handed it over.

Something about what Sirius said was odd, but accepting the milk chocolate bar with a thankful smile, James decided to let it slip.

Almost a week in his new friend's presence had already taught him that the other rarely did anything unthinkingly and clearly knew what he was doing.

"Thank you."

"Any time," Sirius smiled. "It would be a shame to let them go to waste, after all."

"We wouldn't want that," Remus hummed, making them both laugh as his sweet tooth was already well known.

"Hey, can I ask you two a question?" Remus' serious expression sobered them both up immediately.

"Of course," James immediately nodded.

"Has either of you ever heard of a Vow of Silence?"

"That's rather old fashioned," James frowned. "Where did you come across that?"

"It was written in a book and I wondered what it meant. Is it a different name for an Unbreakable Vow?"

"Not quite," James hesitated, unsure of how to explain it.

"It is a vow of promised silence," Sirius spoke up. "Comparable with a Tongue-Tying Curse. The one taking the Vow cannot speak of what has been promised not to talk about until the one it was cast for gives permission to do so."

"What will happen if they do anyway?" Remus asked.

"That's the whole point, they can't," James said. "It's impossible to speak of it until permission is given. They can talk about the subject in general, but not give it away."

"And it is unbreakable?" Remus was tense as Sirius nodded.

"At least until the one it was cast for gives permission to the Vow taker to speak about it."

"Right, that's...that is good, right?" Remus swallowed.

"I believe so," Sirius nodded.

"Where did you come across it? Because that is a very old spell and rarely used any more as the Tongue-Tying Curse is much easier to cast."

"Just a book I was reading in," Remus smiled and suddenly the tenseness James had noticed in him before vaporised, making him blink.

"Why..."

"So, how do you think we should wake Peter up in time for breakfast tomorrow?" Sirius changed the subject and although James frowned, he went along with it as Remus eagerly took it.

"We could use cannon fire to wake him up," Remus suggested, flushing as both James and Sirius looked at him confused. "I mean...maybe a little over the top?"

"What is cannon fire?" James was relieved Sirius asked the question he hadn't wanted to ask, especially as Remus blinked surprised.

"Oh, it's...eh...Muggles have this big black thing that they put large round balls in and makes a lot of noise when it's shot."

"A big black thing?" James couldn't help but ask, feeling slightly guilty as Remus looked unsure of how to explain the Muggle object.

"Yeah...it's eh...kind of an engine. A big hollow pipe on wheels that you can put an iron or steel round ball in; a cannon ball, and there's something that allows them to fire it; which causes the cannonball to shoot away with lots of speed and explode upon hitting a target," Remus tried to explain, even going as far as to draw a rough and rather pathetic sketch on a napkin with his quill.

"So basically it's a killing machine?"

"That's pretty much true," Remus admitted. "People invented and used them a lot in wartime and on ships, sailors used to have several of them on board to protect themselves against pirates."

"Pirates?"

"Lawless scoundrels, who sail the seas, rob other ships blind and take their bounty. Many are accompanied by talking parrots and swords," Remus flushed as Sirius looked at him intently, interest clearly piqued by the idea of them.

"Are there a lot of pirates in the Muggle world?"

"They were mostly around in the Middle Ages, I'm not sure if they still exist now."

"How did you recognise one?" James spoke up curiously as he shared Sirius' interest.

"Well, they usually wore certain kind of clothes; a bandanna or large hat and talked weirdly. And their ship would have a special flag; completely black with a skeleton head and two crossed bones below it," Remus scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "It was supposed to bring fear to those crossing their path."

Something akin to recognition flashed through Sirius' eyes as he pulled the abused napkin towards him, taking Remus' quill to quickly sketch a skull with two bones crossing below it on the back of it.

"That's the flag I mean, how do you know it?" Remus asked surprised, though James was more amazed by how detailed and well done the sketch was.

"From my bedroom window I could just see a small playground down the street; children would sometimes play there while carrying such a flag around. I never figured out what it meant, though."

"The pirate flag is well known in the Muggle world and most children use one in their plays at some time," Remus said. "I played with one sometimes as well when my neighbourhood kids played outside. Your flag is greatly detailed by the way, where did you learn how to draw?"

"I didn't, I just have a good memory."

"Well, it's really good, do you draw often?" James smiled, deciding to give his friend some praise as he had the feeling he didn't get it very often.

"Occasionally when I am bored. It is a nice way to pass the time," Sirius looked uncomfortable, clearly not thinking very highly of his own ability and it made James sad to see his friend think so poorly of himself.

Luckily it was something he could work on. Sirius might have the natural ability to put people at ease as all of the tension in Remus had faded now, James had always prided himself in his abilities and wasn't afraid to show others what they were capable of as well.

"If you would be interested, I could ask my parents to send Treasure Island to me. It is one of the greatest Pirates books out there and would explain them properly," Remus seemed to sense their praise was making Sirius uncomfortable and changed the subject this time.

"If it would not be too much trouble, I would like that," Sirius nodded, happily taking the out for what it was. "From what you are saying, they sound interesting but dangerous. Although I think cannon fire might be a bit loud to our other house-mates if it is as loud as I think it is."

"It is that loud," Remus chuckled.

"We could slam two drum plates together," James suggested, laughing as they both looked at him incredulously. "Or blow a horn beside his ear?"

"We could test several things until we find something that works," Sirius offered and Remus nodded in agreement. "And perhaps find earplugs for ourselves while we are at it."

"Probably a wise idea. But for now we should probably go see what is keeping him as classes start in an hour and he hasn't eaten yet," Remus laughed.

"He might have fallen back asleep without you there to drag him out of bed," Sirius teased as they rose in unison to go check on their dorm mate.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Due to being unable to post tomorrow as usual, you are getting the new chapter a little early. Enjoy!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Did you really think you would get away again, traitor?" Narcissa sneered as she blocked his path, the others with her closing the ranks so that he was surrounded.

"I should have known that you need your little lackeys to do your dirty work; not much of a witch yourself, are you?" Refusing to glance at the others around him, Sirius instead tightened his hold on his wand as he scrambled to come up with an escape strategy.

"You are the one who ran like a coward last time, going to try the same thing again now, brat?" Malfoy hissed from his left, making Sirius huff.

"I find it amusing that you refer to me as the coward when you are the one who needs five fifth years and a slimy first year to corner me. Rather pathetic, is it not?"

Though it was also pathetic that he had let himself be cornered like they had; far away from any other student. And all because he had believed the greasy git when he had said that he wanted to apologise for what had been said on the trail, allowing the other to separate him from the rest of the Gryffindors on their way to lunch.

He really should have known better than to foolishly let his guard down around a Slytherin, believe one of them could be better than those he'd grown up around.

It had been expected that his relatives would try to corner him again after he had gotten away last time, but he had no expected Snape to lure him into a trap; keeping him in place long enough to allow the fifth years to surround them.

The greasy git had immediately fallen back behind them, sneering insults as he let them take the lead like the coward he was proving to be. But Sirius hadn't risen to the bait, more than familiar with much more horrible words being thrown at him and he needed his head if he wanted to get out this.

He knew that if he attacked first, he might be able to take one or two of them out before being overwhelmed, because although he was fast and capable, he wouldn't be a match for all five of them.

With a growl, Malfoy suddenly raised his wand, the others following his lead and casting spells of their own, but to Sirius' surprise the attacks were sloppy and not at all as powerful as he had expected.

The Slytherins clearly had expected him to use a shield and not for him to duck and roll out of the way; spells aimed at him suddenly crashed into their own comrades instead and Nott and Goyle screamed as bone shattering curses hit them.

Malfoy and Narcissa had managed to raise a shield in time to stop the curses Goyle and Nott had sent off but the distraction gave Sirius a momentarily advantage he used to disarm both of the latter, simultaneously knocking them into the wall with enough force to render them unconscious.

A new bone shattering curse bounced harmlessly off the shield Sirius summoned almost thoughtlessly, the bluish white barrier coming into existence hardly with hardly a thought and Narcissa screamed as the spell hit her nose instead.

A quick stunner ensured she wouldn't get up any time soon and, seeing the opening he had looked for as Malfoy glanced at his girlfriend, Sirius quickly send a Full Body Bind at him; hiding a freezing charm in its shadow.

As he had expected, the blond prick side-stepped the Body Bind, but he had not anticipated the second curse and his legs were caught in it, losing his balance as they were suddenly frozen.

Snape yelled in fury as a sweep from Sirius' wand tossed him upside down before he could so much as raise his wand and Sirius was quick to disarm him before hurriedly slipping past Crabbe, who was busy trying to revive Goyle and Nott.

A curse hit the wall beside him, making him stumble as part of the wall exploded right beside him, debris raining down on him as his shield faltered.

Throwing his arms up to protect himself as he fell, white hot pain shot through his legs but he forced it down as he knew he couldn't waste the time he had bought himself.

Scrambling to his feet and stumbling around the corner, he almost crashed into Peeves; who was staring at the damage surprised.

"Please let me pass," Sirius pleaded with the Poltergeist, tensing as Narcissa's voice screamed bloody murder not too far behind him as she had clearly been revived.

Black eyes met his briefly before shifting to the Slytherins coming into view, an unreadable expression crossing his place face before he suddenly surged forward with a battle cry.

Sirius' breathing caught in his throat as the ghost crackled maniacally, pushing over a large stone statue the Slytherins could only barely avoid being crushed by as they dived out of the way; none of them even thinking of using magic to block it.

"In here," for all Sirius could know, it was a trap awaiting him from the suddenly helpful Poltergeist. But he couldn't afford not to take the chance and ducked behind the portrait Peeves had opened, stumbling as he was suddenly left in complete darkness as it closed behind him.

Panic flashed through him at the thought of being locked in a small place, memories of Grimmauld Place's study momentarily overwhelming him before the sounds of crashing and screaming reached him from the other side of the portrait.

A faint smile crossed his lips as he realised Peeves was throwing things around and the sounds were enough of a distraction that he let himself slide down the wall to sit down without too much difficulties, resting his head in his arms but holding tightly onto his wand.

"They are gone."

Sirius wasn't sure how much time had passed when the Poltergeist appeared before him and tensed at the sudden presence beside him in the darkness before Peeves lit a candle, allowing a small light to fill the cave-like space.

It was enough to vanish the remainder of Sirius' panic and he relaxed slightly.

"Thank you," he swallowed as those dark eyes looked up to him.

"Why were they chasing you?" Peeves turned upside down as he stared Sirius down with that same unreadable expression on his face.

"Because I exist," sighing, he leaned his head back against the wall. "Why did you help me?"

"Your eyes were screaming for help, yet you did not ask for it," the Poltergeist turned upright again and stared at him intently. "No child should ever have to feel help will not be given when asked for it. I could see you clearly needed it, yet you did not even attempt to ask, why not?"

"The last time I asked for help, I got that person killed," Sirius swallowed as he remembered Tuffy's fate. "And when I tried to get help another time, innocent people were murdered in cold blood because of it."

"So you've learned not to ask," it was not a question, but Sirius nodded anyway. He wasn't sure why he was revealing this to Peeves; for all he knew the Poltergeist would use it against him in a malicious prank, yet he instinctively felt like he could trust him.

Peeves gave him the same comfortable feeling Tiffy had given him once he'd stopped making a fool of himself; the same feeling James and Remus had immediately given him.

Peeves came close enough that Sirius had to lean back against the wall lest he be nose to nose with him. "The castle lured me here; I did not expect to find you when I followed her call, though now that I see you, I understand."

"The castle asked you to help me? Why would she care about me?"

"You do not believe you are worthy of being cared for?" Peeves raised a black eyebrow and his bell-covered hat slid a little to the side.

"I am a traitor to my bloodline; a worthless disgrace. Why would a sentient being as old and powerful as the castle care about the likes of me?"

"The Heir of the House of Black; a dark family's Pure-Blood descendant who has shown himself to associate with Half-Bloods, known blood traitors and Muggleborn. Who collaborates with House elves and Half-Breeds," Peeves paused as Sirius tensed involuntarily. "Knowing of their social standing, yet uncaring."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Hogwarts knows everything that happens on her grounds," Peeves snorted, waving Sirius' denial off. "It is not her fault the ones in charge on her grounds cannot see."

"She does not tell the teachers about what she sees?" Sirius asked curiously, schooling his expression to not give anything away.

"Not unless she senses it is requested so your friend's secret is safe," a small smile crossed over Peeves' features, making the Poltergeist look fairly strange. "A Hufflepuff in heart, a Ravenclaw in mind and the soul of a Gryffindor; yet you wonder why Hogwarts would find you worthy?"

"I am not a Gryffindor," Sirius swallowed. "The Sorting Hat only placed me there because I wanted it to. I am not brave or strong."

"But you are," Peeves argued.

"You did notice I ran just now, didn't you?" Sirius leaned his head back against the wall. "If I had truly been a Gryffindor, I would have stayed and fought."

"So you are a smart Gryffindor, are not too many of those," Peeves raised an eyebrow as Sirius scoffed. "Bravery comes in many forms. You were smart to retreat when the odds were five against one."

"James would not have run," of that Sirius was fairly sure.

"Then James is an idiot. It is not brave to remain and fight a lost battle, that is just foolish. It is brave to admit when you are outnumbered and cut your losses. There is no shame in retreating when the situation asks for it, especially when said opponents appear to be going for the kill."

"Probably just seriously maim. Narcissa wouldn't want to have to explain to Grandfather how she got his grandson killed."

"Then you were especially smart to run when you could," Peeves lowered himself to float before Sirius. "That is your Ravenclaw side."

"You sound like the Sorting Hat," Sirius cringed. "I am not particularly smart either and just because I believe we are all equal, does not mean I make a good Hufflepuff either nor a good person."

"No, it does not. But do not think the castle does not know of your actions, both towards those in her service and those under her roof," the cryptic words made Sirius frown.

"I thought she would have better things to do than to keep track of what we do," Sirius paused. "If she is so concerned about our well-being, then why does she change her stairs on the most inconvenient moments, so that students will be late for class?"

"One should leave on time if they wish to get there the same way," Peeves' mischievous nature came forth as he grinned broadly.

"Are you telling me Hogwarts basically likes to play pranks?" Sirius couldn't help but laugh at that. "I guess it is fairly boring to have nothing else to do than watch people walk around."

"Hogwarts loves all those in her care. She just loves some a little more than others and will go out of her way to help them."

"Why? Why me? I am nothing special."

Peeves shook his head, looking more solemn than Sirius had ever seen him before and he reached out to lift his chin, making him look up to him. "You are more special than you can even imagine. I am a Poltergeist and bound to Hogwarts as much as you are bound to your bloodline. But we only make our own prisons for as long as we let ourselves do so."

Black eyes softened. "And remember that help will always be given at Hogwarts should you need it. All you need to do is call my name and I will come."

"I don't understand. You are an ancient being and although bound to Hogwarts, you have no obligation to help any of us at any time. No human should ever have the right to command you, regardless of the pranks you play."

The expression on Peeves' face as he jerked back would have been utterly comical if Sirius' mind wasn't swirling in confusion and he couldn't help himself from whispering. "Why would you lower yourself to help someone like me?"

"Why did you talk to Tiffy, despite not needing anything from her? Why do you go out of your way to help the House-Elves and make things easier for them? Why did you not force the little Pippy to punish herself when she made her presence known to you?"

The change in subject did nothing to confuse Sirius less but he still found himself answering truthfully. "Because they are living beings and deserve respect. They are nice, kind and I enjoy being in their company."

"Perhaps, I too, find such enjoyment when interacting with you right now," Peeves' smile was surprisingly soft as he crossed his legs to hover in front of him and suddenly the Poltergeist's general behaviour made sense to Sirius.

"Your malice, it is because of us, isn't it? Tiffy told me that you are bound to the castle and I suspect you absorb the surplus magic produced by the learning students. But that would also mean that you absorb the emotions behind the magic used, do you not?"

"You are the first to think there is a reason behind my behaviour," Peeves chuckled. "Though I can be quite malicious on my own when I feel like it, you are correct. Not all emotions released with the learning magic are filled with honourable intentions and I let go of those emotions again in my actions."

"Is it Hogwarts who stops you from harming anyone? Or can you filter that out yourself when you play your pranks?" Sirius asked curiously.

"She tries to feed it off from me to boost her own natural defences against dark magic, but it is not always successful and my actions are influenced by the ripples I am left with, making them more malicious than I might originally intend."

"But you never use magic in your pranks. You throw knives and all kinds of stuff around, but no matter how dangerous your pranks get, you never use magic," Sirius frowned.

"I try not to, partly because I don't know what I might cause if I let magic lose and partly because it would draw from Hogwarts' defensive magic," Peeves admitted. "No one has ever realised that."

"Not even the teachers?"

"They do not try to see beyond the surface of what they can see. You are quite perceptive."

"Is that a compliment?" a tiny smile crossed Sirius' lips as Peeves turned upside down again, hovering like that for a long moment as he considered him.

"It might be," he eventually decided on.

"Thank you, I guess. Both for the compliment and for helping me."

"No one ever thanks me," dark eyes travelled over Sirius, making him shift self-conscious. "I am sorry I cannot help you more."

"What do you mean?"

Peeves' pale hand shot out to touch Sirius' watch and he automatically flinched despite the Poltergeist clearly not having any intention to hurt him, his heart clenching as he realised the Poltergeist knew about the rune he had recently developed.

"I don't..."

"Please, do not deny it, I know what you hide and I am sorry that those in charge choose not to see the signs so easily visible," pale fingers brushed over the watch momentarily as Sirius tensed. "At least to those of us born of magic. You do a good job hiding them from everyone else. I am just saddened no one makes even an attempt to help."

"Sometimes attempts of help only make things worse," Sirius forced himself to pull away slowly instead of jerking back like he wanted to.

"Your secret is safe with me," seemingly sensing his discomfort, Peeves floated backwards to create some distance between them again. "I just wish there was something I could do to make it stop."

"You can't," swallowing, Sirius deemed enough time had passed and made to get to his feet, gasping in pain as white hot pain shot through his left ankle.

"You hurt your ankle when that wall exploded, didn't you?" Peeves immediately drew near again.

"I hadn't really felt it before," Sirius admitted as he pulled up his trouser leg to reveal a thickened ankle.

"It is broken," Peeves confirmed what Sirius had already thought and he let himself fall back against the wall.

"I do not know how to heal broken bones, haven't gotten around to learning those yet," Sirius sighed. "I am going to make those cowards pay."

"I doubt you will be a match for them just yet."

"I am not going to duel them, though they are not as strong as they pretend to be."

"Then what will you do?"

"I am going to make that slimy git eat bubbles all day long and cover Dung-face's clothing in dung that only she cannot see no matter how much she tries."

"Pranks?" Peeves raised one dark eyebrow in interest.

"Yes, I am open to suggestions on what to do with the other two, though," Sirius grimaced as he tried but failed to heal some of the pressure on his ankle.

"There were three others, were there not?" Peeves inquired.

"Malfoy is getting neon pink hair. He will hate that more than anything and I am fairly sure I can make it so that it will not wash out easily," Sirius mused. "Maybe a modified permanent paint spell?"

"I will help you get into the Slytherin Common Room, just so that I can see that happen," Peeves snickered. "For the other two I am sure we can think of something, especially if your friend helps as well. That boy has a flair for pulling pranks."

"I do not want James to make an enemy of himself in the eyes of my relatives," Sirius shook his head. "He should not be involved in my battles.'

"He became involved the moment you met and you involved yourself in his fights when he made an enemy of Snivellus," Peeves pointed out, making Sirius laugh at the nickname they'd given the sneaky Slytherin on the train.

"As I said, Hogwarts knows everything," Peeves grinned.

"I wonder how much suffering could have been prevented if wizards listened to her knowledge and wisdom," Sirius looked up to Peeves. "Could Voldemort's rise have been prevented if they had?"

"It is likely," Peeves told him honestly. "He already did unspeakable acts while still in Hogwarts but her warnings went unheeded."

"That is horrible," Sirius sighed. "But that does sound like the Wizarding kind in general."

"It does," Peeves agreed. "You should let the Potter kid help you."

"I guess you have a point that our friendship already makes him a target, maybe..."

"Do not even think of what you are thinking now," Peeves cut him off sharply. "Would you want him to pull away if it would be dangerous for you to be friends?"

Sirius hesitated before answering honestly as he couldn't imagine not being friends with the other boy any more. "No, I would not care."

"Then do not make him do what you wouldn't do either."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Then let him in. He doesn't care about that and will want to help," Peeves looked at Sirius. "And he is quite good in thinking up pranks."

Choking out a laugh, Sirius nodded. "Though that is not why I befriended him."

"That is good, because I expect him to be here any moment now."

"What? Why?"

"I've alerted one of the house-elves passing through to warn your friend after I chased those Slytherins away and I realised you were hurt."

"I...thank you," and he was grateful, both for the Poltergeist's help and all that he had said. "And would you pass my gratitude to Hogwarts as well, please?"

"She knows," Peeves promised, moving back a little as a familiar voice rang out from behind the portrait, calling Sirius' name.

"Looks like the cavalry has arrived," Peeves grinned, moving to the entrance to allow James entrance, making Sirius look away quickly as the sudden light blinded him.

"Si...P-Peeves?" Even though he couldn't see James, he could hear the utter surprise in his friend's voice and couldn't help but snicker.

"What happened?" the sound had clearly drawn James' attention to him and the other was quick to approach.

"I broke my ankle in a skirmish with some Slytherins," Sirius answered. "Peeves helped me get away from them."

"He..." James looked up to Peeves; who was hovering at the entrance and had clearly been about to disappear unnoticed. "Thank you for looking out for him."

If Peeves was surprised by the heartfelt gratitude in James' voice, he didn't show it, his dark eyes meeting Sirius' once more. "It was my pleasure to help Bl-"

"Sirius," Sirius interrupted before Peeves could finish that sentence. He didn't think he could bear it if the Poltergeist referred to him like that after what had just happened. "I..I would be grateful if you would be willing to call me by my name."

The expression on the Poltergeist's pale face was unreadable once more, before he gave a single nod. "Get that ankle looked at...Sirius."

"I will, thank you Peeves," smiling as the Poltergeist disappeared, he allowed James to help him to his feet.

"We need to get you to the hospital wing," James took most of his weight as he helped him out of the hiding spot. "And after your ankle is fixed, you are going to tell me all about what happened and how we are going to retaliate."

"I've already thought about a few things, but I still need two more," Sirius squinted as the portrait closed behind them, leaving them in full light again. "I want to involve Peeves, though. He's been really kind and helpful and I would like to involve him."

"If that's what you want, then we'll hunt him down after you are healed," James promised easily. "So...Peeves helped you?"

"Yes, he did not need to, but did so anyway," Sirius was fairly sure the Poltergeist would not appreciate if what he had revealed to him would be shared, so he left it at that, James simply nodding in acceptance and Sirius ran a hand over the wall as they made their way towards the hospital wing slowly, trying to express his gratitude to the castle for her help.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: So, I got an Pm earlier this week from the Shrieking Shack Society, in which I was told I have been nominated for the 2017 Marauder Medal for the Best Sirius portrayal in "Reason Enough" and "Best Veteran Author"...which, Holy Merlin! And though I've got no snow ball shot chance in Azkaban to ever win, I'm just so honoured to even see my name on that nominee list and just wanted to thank the one who nominated me for it.

xxxxxxx

He had no idea how, but he just knew his friends were involved, when a melody he knew very well began to ring throughout the hallways as clearly as if the record player was right beside him and every single student he could see froze in place.

" _Everybody's doing a brand-new dance, now. Come on baby, do the loco-motion. I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance now."_

As the familiar lyrics continued Remus had to fight back laughter as everyone around him immediately began to step in place along with him, hands moving up as if it were train wheels.

Bending forward to shake their shoulders and pulling back up to resume their train movements in time with the music, most students looked torn between confusion and laughter.

Several Hufflepuffs laughed as their hips automatically began to swing when the lyrics indicated they should, everyone jumping forth and back in perfect synchronisation.

" _A chug-a-chug-a motion like a railroad train, now."_

He had no idea how his friends had gotten their hands on a record player or figured out how to amplify it while at the same time forcing everyone to participate, but he had to admit it was fun as they all formed a chain and continued their train wheel motions as they moved on the beat of the music.

As the song ended, the spell seemed to be broken as well and the students turned to each other; some laughing while others looked outraged.

Not waiting around to see which emotion would win in the end, Remus hurried down the hallway to find his friends, trying not to laugh as he ran past confused students everywhere.

"What have you done this time?" He asked by way of greeting as he located them in the Courtyard, both of them bended over a book.

"Did it work?" James beamed as he looked up to him, Sirius tucking away the book they had been looking in.

"If you wanted everyone to do the Loco-Motion, then it did," Remus smiled as both boys whooped in joy. "How do you even know that song or the dance going with it?"

"Professor Wiggles was playing it for his fourth years while I was delivering a message to a student in his class a few days ago and watched him perform the little dance for them. He was more than willing to teach me how to operate the record player and the dance when he learned I was interested in it," Sirius explained.

"Who is Professor Wiggles?"

"The Muggle Studies professor."

"So you decided to have everyone experience the song?"

"It looked like they needed to have a little bit of fun with how tense everyone has been these last few days after those attacks in London," James shrugged.

"So you have them dance?"

"I've always found dancing to be incredibly relaxing and joyful," Sirius nodded. "It is a great way to relax and I must admit that Muggle music is just delightful. I borrowed some of the records the Professor keeps and we've had a lot of fun with them."

"Which is when the idea of having the students do the Loco-Motion formed," James grinned. "It's near impossible to remain still while listening to this."

"I noticed. How did you get everyone to participate?"

"We added a little charm to the record player to make everyone feel the urge to dance," Sirius smiled cryptically. "And keep them dancing."

But no matter how much Remus tried to get more out of them, neither boy would reveal anything more, telling him he would see in time.

And see he did, a different song beginning to play a mere hour later and once more all the students danced, this time to Marvin Gaye's Hitch-Hike.

Remus wondered just how many songs the two would use as rows of students skipped backwards with their thumb in the air in tune with the music, but he found himself looking forward to it when McGonagall furiously tried to stride past, skipping backwards just as much as the students were and he realised the two had included the teachers in their prank.

Every few hours the students would either begin to Hitch-Hike or do the Loco-Motion, the teachers clearly unable to locate the record player to put a stop to it before dinner found the record player standing innocently on the Staff Table and Professor Flitwick quickly undid the charms placed on it.

Students talked about it all through dinner, making Remus smile as most reactions he overheard were positive, though his own positivity drained straight from him at their tutoring lessons right afterwards.

Running a frustrated hand through his hair as his feather barely moved an inch, he dropped his wand onto the table. "I'm just not getting it."

"No, you are not," Sirius agreed. "But I think I might know what the problem is."

"You do?" James leaned in from Sirius' other side, not having found anything wrong in Remus' pronouncement of the spell or his movements.

"Yes, he is focusing too much on the rules and properness of casting. It is something most Muggle-born and raised do, which technically is the way it is supposed to be learned but doesn't work for everyone," Sirius explained, picking Remus' feather up. "See this feather?"

"I couldn't unsee it even if I tried," Remus grumbled, sighing almost immediately after. "Sorry, I am just frustrated."

"I can imagine. We have been working with this charm according to Professor Flitwick's way for a while now, without getting much result, so let's try my way now. Look at the feather."

"I'm seeing it," the glare Remus send at the offensive thing was apparently so intense that James had to stifle a laugh.

"Good, then imagine it in the air now; floating gently on a breeze of wind like it doesn't have a care in the world."

Sirius' voice was soothing and Remus had no problem picturing the image Sirius was painting in his mind.

"Now cast the spell, no bothering with proper pronouncements or silly wand movements. Close your eyes; stop thinking and just picture that feather floating on the wind."

Taking a deep breath, Remus smoothed out his frown as he followed Sirius' voice, thinking hard of the image in his mind.

"You are going to need to say the spell, though. I don't think you are quite ready for non-verbal casting just yet," flushing at the teasing, Remus realised that he had just been sitting there with closed eyes for several long moments now.

" _Wingardium Leviosa."_

"Good, now open your eyes," doing as he was told, Remus was shocked to see his feather hovering in the sky on eye level and turned to Sirius surprised.

"How..."

"Hogwarts' methods are solid; for those who have to learn to focus their magic. Most Muggleborn and Half-Blood students are unfamiliar with their magical core and need help channelling their magic. For them, the rules and wand movements help them focus their magic to do their bidding. For you, this does not count."

"Why not?" Peter piped up from Remus' other side, having the same amount of difficulties as he had to get his feather to float.

"Because he is already in tune with his magical core and as such, doesn't need to learn how to focus his magic. For people like him, the rules are actually holding him back because he is trying to do something that is completely unnatural for your magic."

"That makes sense," James mused. "We've never even tried to follow the rules in the first place and therefore probably didn't stumble upon the same problem he's having now."

"I believe that is the case," Sirius agreed. "Now, let us try again, but now with your eyes open. Just focus on wanting that feather to float. Imagine it in your mind and just make it happen."

The second attempt brought forth the same result, making all of them cheer.

"Does that work for every bit of magic we perform?" Remus found it much easier now that he followed Sirius' instructions.

"I think so. I have not had any difficulties with spells so far and I have always used this method and am fairly confident it will work for you as well," Sirius' smile made Remus' own broaden and he looked back at his still hovering feather.

"Now that you have the hovering part under control, let's try to make it move. Imagine your feather to move left and right like it is flying."

"Right," refocusing on his feather, Remus didn't have any trouble doing what Sirius asked and, with a certain amount of pride as he caught Sirius' approving smile, teasingly made his feather fly around his friend.

"Looks like you finally got it," being treated to a rare laugh made Remus' heart leap and he couldn't help but show off a little, making the feather turn a circle around James and Peter as well before allowing it to land on the table again. "Well done, and with that you have mastered the flying charm as well."

"What? But I didn't use any incantation!"

"You didn't need one. Your feather was already floating and you did not automatically assume that was the limit of the spell."

James slapped a hand on his forehead at Sirius' words. "Of course, that's brilliant. Wingardium Leviosa is a hover charm; I didn't even notice he was making it fly instead of just hovering it."

"But...how?"

"Because he didn't tell you that the hover charm could only do exactly as the name says, you didn't limit your ability to that and as such, you could make it fly without a problem when he asked you to do so," James' excitement only served to confuse Remus further, a glance at Peter telling him the other was just as clueless.

"Let's try it differently," Sirius decided. "Why don't you make the feather float up with the hover charm."

It didn't get old to watch his feather rise without trouble, but when Sirius asked him to make it fly again; he was surprised to find that he couldn't get it to work.

"Why..."

"Can't make it fly?" Sirius asked knowingly. "Then now imagine that it can fly and try again."

The second attempt made the feather shoot through the unused classroom without any trouble at all and Remus finally realised what they had meant. "It is all about intent and imagination, isn't it? James reminded me that the Levitation Charm is a hover charm and therefore I couldn't make it fly like this until I let go of that thought."

"Exactly," Sirius nodded.

"So when using my imagination and focusing on what I want my magic to do, I should be able to get a whole lot further than with just casting spells," Remus mused.

"There will of course be a limit based upon your magical endurance and capability, but those are things that can be trained," Sirius patted Remus' biceps in praise. "But well done."

"Now you try it, Peter," Remus turned to the mousy-haired boy just in time to catch a look of jealousy cross over his features, quickly smoothed out as Peter nodded and tried to do what Sirius had said.

The strange look made Remus frown, but he pushed his question to the back of his mind as Peter's feather didn't rise nearly as smoothly as Remus' own had done.

But neither dark-haired boy seemed surprised by the development.

"Yes, I suspected that might be the case."

"His magical core is a lot smaller than Remus', isn't it?" James asked.

"Yes, and he also doesn't have a very strong grip on his magic yet," Sirius hummed as Peter's face fell. "Let's try a slightly different approach. Imagine the same thing as before, but focus on the rules. Channel your magic into the wand movements, no...like this."

Following Sirius' wand movements, Peter finally managed to make the feather float up without difficulties.

"I did it!" Peter exclaimed in shock. "Did you see that!"

"Good job," Sirius praised him. "So to help Peter, we will need to focus on the rules and help him channel his magic properly until he has build up a feeling for it."

"It's going to be a challenge to teach him by the rules when we ourselves do not follow them," James mused.

"We will just have to pay attention in class whenever a new charm is explained and do it our own way from there. That way we can help both of them at the same time and I have no doubt that Peter will have good control over his magic in no time," Sirius shrugged.

"I'll trust you on that," James simply smiled and Peter sighed relieved.

"I feel kind of bad we are making you two go through so much trouble, just to help us," Remus sighed as Sirius ordered Peter to practice a few more times before they would quit.

"Don't worry, we are quite advanced compared to where classes are right now and if we keep up what we've been doing so far, there will be no trouble at all," James reassured him. "We've been working on second year spells."

"What?"Remus turned to Sirius in disbelief even though he already knew the two had to have used an advanced spell to pull off the prank they had.

"It's the benefit of being Heirs to Pure-Blood families. We've been trained in our magic from an early age and that gives us an advantage over you because we already know what our magic is capable of," there was an apologising smile on Sirius' face. "There was not much challenge in the first year spells for us, so we decided to broaden our horizons a little. Fabian caught me practising Immobilising a few flies, so he and his friend Frank decided to loan me their old second year textbooks for Charms and Transfiguration so we could look through them and learn the spells more easily."

"Who is Fabian?"

"A fourth year so you probably haven't seen much of him yet. He is the younger of the Prewett twins."

"Those red-haired boys?" Remus asked for clarification, knowing who they were talking about when both boys nodded.

"He didn't tell you off for going above your year?" Peter sounded incredulous as he let his feather drop onto the ground when his concentration broke.

"No, he actually encouraged us to learn as much as we could. His friend Frank actually told us to come to them if we encountered any trouble with a spell so they could help us figure it out," Sirius picked up the feather. "His girlfriend is really nice, too. She offered to loan me some old books she had at home that dealt with background Potions and Transfiguration."

"Why would she do that?"

"Said it looked like we were easily bored if we had the time already to paint Professor Slughorn's office," James chuckled. "You should have seen the man when he saw his office; he was torn between looking horrified and laughing like a maniac."

"That might have been because I added a little charm to the wall before we left," Sirius admitted.

"What have you done?" James asked curiously.

"I modified the Cheering Charm to mix with the Flashing Paint Charm we used to paint his walls."

"And that worked?" James blinked surprised. "So he was grinning because the Cheering Charm was in effect? Well, it was certainly a cheerful effect and a delightful sight."

"I bet. Why didn't he simply vanish the paint?" Peter asked.

"We combined the Flashing Paint Charm with a Sticking Charm, meaning it would duplicate the moment Slughorn tried to vanish it. But we didn't stick around to see if he could remove it, we high-tailed it out of there," James laughed.

"I hope you won't get another detention for this," Remus shook his head fondly. "You've already received plenty so far, and we're only on our fourth week! It must be some kind of record."

"I don't think anyone is ever going to beat Sirius' record," James laughed. "A detention at breakfast, not even twenty-four hours after arriving as a new student at Hogwarts is quite an accomplishment that not many will be able to surpass."

"But it was legendary," Remus had been awed when Sirius had casually blown up the Howler coming towards him, managing to do so without harming the owl carrying it.

"That it was," James readily agreed. "Every student was jealous of what you've accomplished."

"That may be, but I think we will be in the clear for this one. Alice caught us red-handed, but she kept silent when Professor Slughorn stormed out; making it seem like we were just coincidentally passing his office along with her," Sirius grinned. "She said that if she hadn't seen us perform that prank, she would never have believed two first years had done that so it is unlikely we will be caught."

"Alice?" Peter asked.

"Frank's girlfriend. I don't actually know her last name as she only introduced herself with her given name," Sirius shrugged. "I cannot really fault her for that as I usually try to do the same."

"No kidding," Remus had been shocked to realise he had been happily chatting with the Black Heir that first night, but now he was just glad Sirius hadn't mentioned his surname as he wasn't quite sure he would have dared to even speak to the other if he had known who he was.

And in turn that would have made him miss out on a very great friend.

"Why do we not call it a day and return to our dorm? I do believe you promised to teach us how to play that game you told us about," Sirius put the feather away.

"The Ludo game?" James returned their chairs to their previous positions. "I thought you had to first see if you could get it from home?"

"It arrived this morning," Remus smiled, looking forward to teach his two Pure-Blood friends the ancient Muggle game he always loved to play with his mother.

"Good, you said you know where the kitchen is, right?" James turned to Sirius.

"Yes, I'm sure the House-elves would be more than happy to gather some quick snacks for us if we asked?"

"You are reading my mind," James grinned. "So we will get snacks and something to drink if you guys set up our playing area."

"I asked Tiffy if she might have some pillows earlier this morning so that we can sit comfortably on the ground and she promised they would be waiting on my bed," Sirius revealed as James began to pull him along.

"Smart," Remus chuckled as the two disappeared with a belated yell from James to meet up again in fifteen minutes.

"Are we really going to teach two Pure-Bloods a Muggle game?" Peter asked as they began to make their way to the dorm. "After we've seen what they do with Muggle music?"

"You have to admit that they are quite adaptable," Remus smiled.

"It's going to be a disaster," Peter predicted.

"Give them some credit, it is not like Ludo is such a difficult game, especially compared to Stratego."

Suddenly Remus was caught by a desire to teach their two dark-haired friends that game, wondering if they had as strategic a mind as he expected they did.

"Please don't, I can see them pulling other students into playing a live version of it if given the chance," Peter read his mind. "That truly would be a disaster."

"It could be fun, too. The dancing was," laughing at the doubtful expression Peter shot him, he patted his shoulder in comfort. "But let us just start with Ludo for now. For all we know, they might actually hate the game."

"I doubt it," Peter muttered, but Remus ignored his hesitation and just directed him to get everything in place so they could have a relaxing evening with their friends.


	7. Chapter 7

"James?"

Turning his head to look at Sirius as they were walking down the path to the Black Lake, James frowned as he noticed his friend was looking down, only to realise he had unconsciously slipped his hand in his.

"Uh…"

"What are you doing?"

"I think that would be obvious, don't you? I am holding your hand," he had to squash down an urge to laugh as Sirius' look was utterly priceless as he lifted his head to look at him.

The other had slowly gotten used to James' touchy-feely nature and rarely flinched any more when he reached out to him or slung an arm around his shoulder, something for which James was very glad as it had taken a lot of concentration to keep himself in check.

From the looks and reactions Sirius gave sometimes, James had began to suspect his friend didn't come from a very loving home; a suspicion that only deepened whenever he learned of more things the other wasn't familiar with, like praise or even simple touches.

"You don't say," Sirius raised an eyebrow, unaware of James' thoughts. "I do have eyes, you know? I just fail to understand why you would do so. Are we going to have to run from something?"

Although that made James chuckle nervously, he also felt a small thrill of joy at the progress he had made in the trust department as the other hadn't pulled back yet.

"No, why would you think that?"

"Because that is usually when you grab me," Sirius easily said. "But there is no teacher yelling our names now for us to run from."

"Right, I hadn't noticed I did that. Do I really need a reason to want to hold your hand, though? Unless it is making you uncomfortable?" James' semi-confidence faded to worry as Sirius' expression remained unchanged, but as he tried to pull away, Sirius' grip tightened slightly.

"You do not make me uncomfortable. It is just...unfamiliar. I thought hand-holding was something reserved to little children and couples?" The pure confusion and puzzlement on his friend's face as he stared down at their hands like it was a complicated puzzle made James swallow back another smile.

"Friends can do so, too, you know?"

From the sceptical look send his way, James knew the other didn't really understand the friendly gesture. But that was not much of a surprise as Sirius had admitted James was the first friend he had ever made as his parents had kept him extremely sheltered.

It wasn't something that had truly surprised him as everyone knew about the occasional assassination attempt that was made on the Black Heir's life and although there hadn't been one at Hogwarts so far, James knew that the other boy had been kept from the public as much as possible to prevent any.

It had made him wonder if the Blacks' thought Hogwarts would be safe enough for him, but he had not spoken up as people would hardly dare to try anything under Dumbledore's watchful nose.

A soft tug on his hand made him look up to find Sirius staring at him.

"Sorry, I zoned out for a moment."

"So I noticed."

Answering the small playful smile send his way, James cleared his throat. "What were you asking?"

"I just said that I might not be overly familiar with friendship and all its quirks, but I must say that I have never seen boys walk hand in hand anywhere."

"Yeah, it might be something usually only girls do," James swallowed; his mouth suddenly dry as light grey eyes stared into his intensively. "But who cares about that if we would like to do so as well?"

He was aware that he was not making a whole lot of sense and he really couldn't explain very well why he was doing what he did without looking like an idiot, though he took it as a good sign as Sirius still hadn't pulled back.

"So you want to hold my hand for no specific reason other than that you can?"

"Pretty much, if it is not making you uncomfortable?" Trying to suppress the smile that once more threatened to take over, James tried to wait patiently as the other lifted their hands up to look at them with a fairly blank expression.

If James was completely trustful with himself, then he would have to admit that he hadn't really thought about it as Sirius had just been right beside them and he had just slipped his hand into the other's without a single thought.

The slightly cold hand in his put him at ease the same way his parents' touch always did and felt completely natural to him, something he wasn't quite sure he would be able to prevent from happening again if his friend decided he wasn't comfortable with it after all.

Growing up as an only child, he had been left as the sole receiver for any hugs and caresses his parents had to offer and as a result, he had found himself to have grown into a rather tactile person himself. Not that he had a lot of people to be tactile with in his life, or he had felt the desire to hold the hand of the few friends he had before, Sirius just made him feel at ease and brought him comfort even if he didn't really need any at the moment.

It was not intended as a romantic gesture or felt like one, though James was aware it could very well be taken as one.

"I make you feel at ease?"

The question made him realise he had spoken out loud, but he nodded even as a faint flush crept up.

"You have since the moment I met you," he admitted honestly as that was the truth. The moment those grey eyes had met his for the first time; there had been something that had drawn James to the pale boy sitting all alone in that compartment in the train. A pull that was only growing stronger as time passed and made him feel like he had known Sirius his whole life.

"So it is not just me?"

The sincere questioning surprise in those warm grey eyes brought a smile to James' lips once more, happy to have confirmation as well.

"No, it is not. Do you mind that I am holding your hand?"

Sirius glanced down at their hands once more. "It is...comfortable...and warm."

"Then would you mind if I might do it again in the future?" James felt the need to ask, shifting a little nervous as Sirius stared at their hands for a long moment in silence before shaking his head.

"No, I wouldn't mind," Sirius' body automatically tensed as voices raised behind them, relaxing again as a small group of Ravenclaws ran past them to get to the lake, not paying them the least bit of attention.

Grey eyes hesitantly met his own brown ones before looking back at the group now a fair distance away. "Would you mind if I did at times?"

"Not at all," James smiled. "If we like to, why not? And who is anyone to say that we can't? We are friends and friends can walk hand in hand if they want to. I'm sure Remus would be overjoyed if you were to hold his hand some time as well."

James had caught Remus' fingers flexing several times whenever the boy walked beside Sirius as well, it had made him wonder if the other boy felt the same pull James did.

If his frequent smiles and the natural way he gravitated towards Sirius whenever he was around were any indication, he did and James couldn't help but smile as he realised it was that same aura that put people at ease that was drawing people to his side as even Peter always seemed more at ease whenever Sirius was around, too.

"Remus would be? Why?"

"Because you put him at ease as well," James laughed. "Don't look so surprised, everyone with eyes can see that. But you shouldn't do so if it is not something you want to do. Never let anyone force you to do something against your will."

"I'll think about it," Sirius promised, making James smile once more. "But on a different note, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," James nodded.

"Didn't you have detention with Slughorn this afternoon?"

"I do," James glanced at his watch. "In fifteen minutes, crap."

Being treated to a rare laugh as Sirius shooed him off, James hurried off, leaving Sirius behind to stare at his retreating form before fondly shaking his head and turning to continue on his way to the lake.

But he hadn't taken more than a few steps when the same Ravenclaws returned in a hurry, this time joined by several others and he automatically stepped aside to let them pass.

"Why is she naked?" One of them laughed.

"Olivia and Emily pushed her out while she was changing," another answered and dread filled Sirius as they laughed even harder.

Everything in him screamed to follow them so he took off after the running group; following them back to the castle and through the hallways before coming to a stop as they joined a fairly large group of cheering Ravenclaws standing in a wide circle.

From his current position he couldn't make out what they were cheering at, but from what those girls had said, he had a sinking feeling it was the girl they had mentioned.

Pushing his way through the crowd, he came face to face with a crying blond girl who was indeed in a far state of undress and without thinking he pushed forward while shrugging off his over-cloak.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded as he wrapped it around her to give her some cover.

"Go back to your own tower, Lion," one of them sneered. "This is our business."

"Humiliating someone is your business?" Sirius bit out, moving to stand before the trembling girl as she tightened her hold on his cloak to keep herself covered.

"Stay out of this, she deserves this," a brown-haired girl said. "What do you care? Or is she your little girlfriend?"

Most of the group laughed at that, bit Sirius ignored them as he stared the girl down, mentally cataloguing their expected spell range as the group ranked from first to at the most third years.

"What could anyone possible do to deserve something like this?"

"Would you relax, it's just a bit of fun," the same girl laughed. "It's got nothing to do with you."

Wet silvery grey eyes met his startled as he turned to the girl he was protecting and she tensed even as he raised his hands to show he didn't mean her any harm. "Where are your clothes?"

"In the dorm," she swallowed as tears ran down. "I can't figure out the riddle and they won't let me think."

"In the dorm?"

"I was changing out of my uniform when they pushed me out," she looked down, a bright flush covering her cheeks and Sirius growled even though he had already known that.

"You think it is fun to do this to anyone?" He hissed, anger washing over him as they laughed once more.

"She is an oddball, of course it is fun," a blond girl beside the brown-haired one sneered. "Now get out of our way, I'm getting tired of you."

Glaring at the girl, he pushing his way through the panicking group to the door, quickly locating the bronze eagle-shaped knocker on it. "Can you open up so we can retrieve her clothes?"

"What creatures walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the..."

"I don't care about your stupid riddles, open up or I will make you," Sirius cut him off, not at all in the mood to figure out a riddle.

"The Riddle must be answered to be able to pass," was the response.

"Fine, have it your way," he raised his wand while pushing the girl behind him to keep her safe. " _Confringo."_

His shield rose automatically to protect him and the girl as the entire wall before him exploded and stones rained down around them, though he couldn't bring himself to care for his overpowering of the spell used and ignoring the shrieks behind him, began to climb over the resulting rubble to go up the tight spiral staircase.

Ignoring his surroundings as a few people jumped to their feet once they reached the Common Room, he turned to the girl again. "Where are your possessions?"

She gave no sign of surprise or discomfort as she pointed to the door next to the large statue before leading him over at his indication.

"Get dressed," he ordered as he spotted a few items of clothing on one of the beds where she must have been changing before being pushed out. Raising his wand once more, he shrunk the trunk and picked it up before turning to give her some privacy.

The rustling of clothing told him she was getting dressed and he turned when he heard her coming back to him, not asking any questions as he led her back out of the dorm without a word.

"What do you think you are doing here?!" one of the Ravenclaws who had been in the Common Room had overcome his surprise and was moving towards them, but Sirius only glared at him.

"Taking her away from your despicable lot," he snarled, ignoring the spluttering behind him as he led the girl down again and helped her down from the rubble once he was down.

"What have you done!" the same brown-haired girl from before was staring at them, covered in rubble and clearly livid. "We were just having a little fun!"

Before Sirius could truly think of what he was doing, he reacted and the girls shrieked as their clothes suddenly disappeared, leaving the entire group around them in just their underclothes.

"What's the matter?" Sirius bit out as they desperately tried to cover up. "It is just a bit of fun, right? Nothing more than what you deserve. If any of you ever dares to humiliate her or anyone else like that ever again, I will make sure that person regrets it for the rest of their lives."

He noticed with grim satisfaction that although several of the older Ravenclaws desperately tried to use their wands to return their clothes, he had anticipated their spell range correctly and they simply failed.

Seemingly realising the same thing, the Ravenclaws gathering their wits fought to climb the spiral staircase, but to his surprise access seemed to be denied to them despite there not being a door to stop them.

As they screamed in frustration and apparent humiliation, Sirius realised Hogwarts was stopping them from entering the safety of their tower and he mentally cheered at her.

"You can't do this," the Ravenclaw from the Common Room had followed them down and only now could Sirius see that he was a Prefect as the badge glistered in the light, but he didn't seem any more capable of leaving the stairs than those below were able to climb them.

A few of the angry group raised their wand, but it took barely a whisper to disarm them and he huffed out a laugh.

"Watch me," grabbing her hand, he turned to find a crowd of people had gathered in the corridor but they immediately parted to let them through, leaving the shrieking and screaming group behind.

There was no way he was going to leave her with the Ravenclaws after this, not when they had been the ones to lock one of their own out like that. What was the worst was that no one had made any move to help her, all of them only laughing and anger once more washed over him at their behaviour.

"Where are you taking me?" She eventually asked timidly as they were halfway to Gryffindor Tower.

"Gryffindor Tower. I'm not leaving you with that lot."

"Why are you helping me?" noticing that she had to run to keep up with his quick pace, he slowed down to normal walking and she breathed out relieved.

"Why didn't they?" Sirius shot back.

"They think I am odd," she softly said.

"Being odd is no excuse for them to treat you this way," Sirius said.

"It is to them," she came to a stop so he turned to her. "I didn't even thank you."

"You should not have to."

"But I want to," a small hesitant, sad, watery smile crossed her pale lips. "I won't be able to stay at Gryffindor Tower, though. The teachers would never allow it."

"They won't have a choice. You are staying there until it will be safe for you to return, not a moment before."

"You would go against the teachers for me?" she looked surprised. "Why?"

"No one deserves what they did to you, that's why," he simply told her, fully intent to keep his promise to not let her return until it was guaranteed they wouldn't be able to bully her again.

"Thank you, Sirius."

"How do you know my name?" It should disturb him, the familiarity with which she spoke to him, but yet it didn't and instead he found himself answering her smile.

"I'm Pandora," she said instead and a squeeze in his hand made him realise he was still holding it.

"Sorry," trying to pull back, her grip tightened and he looked up to meet frightened eyes.

"Please, let me hold on for a little while longer," her other hand came up to cover his completely between hers, trembling slightly and a wave of protectiveness flushed the last bit of anger out of his system as he looked in those wet eyes.

Although different in colour, the fear in them was remarkably like Remus' after he woke from a nightmare or the full moon approached and he found himself unwilling to do anything that would keep that fear there.

"Did you find yourself a new friend?" the voice was familiar enough that Sirius did not tense at the sound of it, letting Pandora hold onto his hand tightly as he turned to find Peeves floating their way.

"Yes," it was not really true since he didn't know the girl behind him, but Sirius found that he did not dislike the idea of her becoming one with time. "The Ravenclaws were humiliating her, so I took her away from them."

The hands holding onto his slid up to instead wrap around his arm and he could feel her shift to half hide behind him.

"I heard," a dangerous glint flashed through Peeves' eyes as the black orbs followed Pandora's movement, telling Sirius that Hogwarts had already alerted Peeves to what had happened. "You keep on adopting strays."

"Were you send to stop me?"

"On the contrary, I am the cavalry today," a pleasant smile crossed Peeves' malicious features as he gazed down at him. "Or the unneeded back-up, since you did not seem to need much help stopping them yourself."

"I couldn't very well let them continue tormenting her if I could stop it."

"No," Peeves agreed. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I disarmed them before they could raise their wands. I did harm Hogwarts while getting to her belongings, though."

"She understands and doesn't mind because of the reason you had for doing so," Peeves laughed maliciously.

"Are you going to make them miserable?" Sirius couldn't help but ask as a hand curled into the back of his robes and Pandora shifted further behind him.

It didn't really make Sirius feel comfortable to have someone who wasn't James that close to him, but he didn't move away as she hid her face against his shoulder blades as if believing the Poltergeist couldn't get to her if she just hid far enough. He was aware enough of emotions to realise she was just scared and was using him to hide from any potential harm, something for which he could not blame her.

"From what I understand, you already did that quite well," Peeves' expression tightened and he drifted off a little, clearly aware he was frightening Pandora even more than she already was.

"Not nearly enough."

Black eyes met his before shifting to Pandora, who tensed as if sensing his gaze and pressed herself further against Sirius' back and agreement flashed through the Poltergeist's eyes. "I will rectify that. Where are her possessions?"

"I have those here," Sirius held up the shrunken trunk.

"They will not like that you are taking her."

"Does it look like I care in the slightest?" Sirius raised an eyebrow, making Peeves crack out a laugh.

"No, you do not. It might be wise to remember that help is given should it be needed, to let say, keep someone from entering," a sly grin spread over pale lips. "Or trying to force someone to leave when unwilling to do so."

Understanding what he meant, Sirius nodded. "That would be helpful."

"The Founders would not have tolerated treatment of this kind," Peeves' smile turned slightly more genuine. "But you have what they did not."

"I do?"

"You have made friends, ones who will not hesitate to come to your aid in their own way."

The words were cryptic and Sirius didn't really understand what he meant, but still found himself nodding in gratitude, knowing better than to question the Poltergeist. "Thank you."

"Whatever for?" Peeves tipped his hat at them before flying off with a cackling laugh and the strong hold Pandora had on Sirius' arm lessened in strength the moment he disappeared.

"I'm sorry," she gazed to where Peeves had disappeared around the corner.

"What are you sorry for?"

"He was trying to be kind, but I..." she trailed off; swallowing thickly as she slipped her hand in his again and looked down.

"He understands," Sirius squeezed her hand. "We should get to Gryffindor Tower before we run into less friendly faces."

Nodding, she walked by his side and in no time at all they reached Gryffindor Tower, which was thankfully mostly deserted.

Spotting Evans sitting with a book near the fire, he made his way to her, pulling Pandora with him.

"Evans, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Evans turned to him, but the moment she spotted Pandora, the annoyance on her face immediately changing to concern and she rose to her feet. "What happened?"

"Pandora is going to need a place to sleep for now and seeing as it would be inappropriate for her to stay in the boys' dorm I was hoping she could stay with you?"

"I...of course," Evans nodded, turning to Pandora with a smile.

"Hello, I'm Lily. You look like you could use a moment to freshen up, why don't you come with me?"

Pandora's silvery grey eyes flashed to Sirius uncertainly.

"I'm not going anywhere," to prove his point, he sat down on one of the chairs not too far from the fire.

"I still have your cloak," Pandora reached up to undo the cloak Sirius hadn't even realised she was still wearing.

"Why don't you hold on to that for now and return it to me later when you are more settled?"

"I...thank you," the smile she gave him was a lot less watery now and she let Evans guide her away while clinging to the cloak that was clearly bringing her comfort.

Mere minutes of waiting later saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick stepped into the Common Room, their eyes immediately finding him.

"A word in my office, Mister Black," McGonagall looked close to livid, but was clearly doing her best to hold onto her temper as the few Gryffindors present looked very interested to see her.

"Sorry Professor, but that will be impossible as I promised Pandora I would stay right here until she has returned," Sirius said as he rose to his feet. "Anything you have to say to me will have to be done here as I refuse to break my promise."

"You blew up Ravenclaw Tower. I do not think you are in any position to want anything."

"Only the front door and even that only because the knocker refused to allow me entrance despite me asking."

"You had no right to enter the Ravenclaw Tower in the first place," McGonagall bristled. "One hundre..."

"One moment, Minerva," Professor Flitwick held up a hand. "Everyone, leave us."

The few Gryffindors present seemed to realise he wouldn't take no for an answer and they scrambled to leave the Common Room.

"Right, you mentioned Pandora, why would she be here?"

"You mean to say that your brave little Ravenclaws didn't tell you why I blew up their front door?" Sirius huffed out a humourless laugh as Professor Flitwick shook his head.

"They said you broke into the tower and then Vanished everyone's clothing in retaliation of a harmless little fun."

"I suppose that were the same Ravenclaws who thought forcing a young girl out of her dorm and into a crowded hallway while she was changing clothes is considered a little fun," Sirius asked sarcastically.

"What?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed but Professor Flitwick's eyes flashed.

"Tell me everything," he demanded.

"There is not much to tell. I was at Black Lake when a group of Ravenclaws passed, laughing among themselves about a girl some girls called Olivia and Emily pushed out of the tower naked. I followed them and found a large group of first to third year Ravenclaws surrounding Pandora, who was indeed in only her underclothes. When they refused to cease their so called little fun, I intervened."

"Olivia and Emily, you say?" Professor Flitwick' expression had changed from angry to outrage. "What are their surnames?"

"I don't know. I assume it were the blond-haired and brunette in charge."

"And you took Pandora here?"

"She is refreshing herself a little with Evans," Sirius indicated to the girls' dorm.

"Why did you not come get a teacher?" McGonagall asked; her temper deflating a little now that she realised there was more to it.

"And leave her to be ridiculed in the meantime?" Sirius looked at her incredulous. "I asked the knocker to allow me entrance so I could retrieve her clothes. I only blew it up when it refused."

"You could have tried to answer the riddle," Professor Flitwick raised an eyebrow. "Although I do admit that might have been hard to do under the circumstances."

"I'm sorry that I blew up Ravenclaw Tower's entrance, but I do not regret doing it to help Pandora," Sirius glanced up as Pandora and Evans came down the stairs, the former immediately tensing as she caught sight of the two teachers.

"Ah, Pandora, I am sorry to hear about what has happened and will make sure those involved in the despicable action are punished," Professor Flitwick concentrated on her. "Are you all right?"

"Thanks to Sirius," Pandora nodded, glancing at Professor McGonagall wearily before hurrying across the Common Room to Sirius' side, sliding her arms around his arm once more. Understanding her need for reassurance, Sirius let her. "He helped me when no one else did."

"I realise that now and for that you will not be punished for your actions, though I will need to take points for the retaliation you took," Professor Flitwick turned back to Sirius. "Twenty points from Gryffindor."

"That is not fair, Professor," Pandora spoke up softly. "He only retaliated because they kept taunting me."

"Nonetheless, we cannot let such behaviour go unpunished," Professor Flitwick had the decency to look unhappy with it, but Sirius didn't care about the points.

"Thank you for taking my Claw in, I will be taking it from here," Professor Flitwick reached out to Pandora, but Sirius shifted back to keep her out of his reach.

"I am afraid that will be impossible, too, Sir," Sirius placed a reassuring hand on Pandora's arm. "She is not going back there until I know for sure it is safe for her to do so."

"What do you mean, safe?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying she would not be safe?"

"How safe can one be when her own dorm mates did this?" Sirius raised his eyebrow. "Until you can guarantee nothing like this will ever happen again, she will remain here."

"That is not for you to decide, Mister Black," McGonagall sounded irritated, but Sirius paid her tone no mind.

"No, it is not, Professor. It is Pandora's."

"I want to stay here," the girl immediately spoke up, tightening her hold on Sirius' arm. "At least until I know this will not happen again."

"I promise you that," Professor Flitwick nodded. "But you cannot stay here."

"I can. I was told that help would be given when it is needed and no one could force me to leave if it was not safe for me to do so," Pandora swallowed. "I do not feel safe in my dorm."

"Who told you that?" McGonagall's eyes narrowed.

"That doesn't matter," Sirius wasn't about to reveal that Peeves had given them that information, not wanting the Poltergeist to get into trouble on their account. "She has made it known that she doesn't feel safe in Ravenclaw Tower and as such, she will remain here."

"She cannot sleep in the boys' dorm," McGonagall protested.

"And she won't," Evans spoke up as she drew nearer. "Pandora can stay with me in the first year girls' dorm for as long as is needed. There is already an extra bed there, Professor."

"An extra bed?" McGonagall's eyes were unreadable as she looked between the three of them, clearly thrown of by Evans backing them up.

"It wasn't there when I woke up this morning, but it was just now," Evans nodded. "It must be meant for Pandora."

"You see, Professor, Hogwarts has already decided Pandora is to stay here for now," Sirius refused to back down from that intensive gaze and instead held it no matter how uncomfortable and nervous it made him. " At least until it is safe for her to return."

"I can guarantee you that nothing like this will ever happen again," Professor Flitwick swore.

"With all due respect, Professor, but how?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You cannot be there all hours of the day and even if you could somehow ensure she would be safe in her dorm, what is to stop them from targeting her on the way to class or when she needs to use the bathroom?"

"I..." Professor Flitwick blinked, horror crossing his features. "I cannot."

"So until you can, Pandora will remain here for as long as she would like to," Sirius looked up as James entered.

"Remain outside, Mister Potter," McGonagall ordered, but James shook his head.

"I can't do that, Professor. I am here to stop you from trying to force her to return to her dorm and will not leave until she can stay," James shot Evans a curious look as he passed her to come stand on Pandora's other side.

"I can dock a lot of points for this," McGonagall threatened. "Or give you detention until the end of the year."

"That is your good right," James nodded. "But that won't stop us from keeping her here."

"Mister..."

"She can stay here tonight," Professor Flitwick interrupted her kindly. "I will look into the full situation in the meantime and do what I can to ensure nothing like this happens ever again."

"Filius!" Professor McGonagall raised a single eyebrow, but Professor Flitwick didn't even look at her.

"This arrangement was clearly approved by Hogwarts and a single night cannot do much harm and will give all those involved a chance to calm down," nodding to Pandora, Professor Flitwick sighed. "I will get to the bottom of this and make sure those involved are punished accordingly."

"We will be awaiting that justice," James nodded, placing a hand on Pandora's shoulder and although Sirius could feel her tense, James gave no indication of having noticed.

"Very well, but you will be hearing more about this," McGonagall frowned. "Please refrain from blowing anything else up."

"I will, Professor," Sirius nodded.

"Before I forget, twenty-five points for coming to the aid of one of my Claws," Professor Flitwick gave a small incline of his head to Sirius before the two of them made their way back to the entrance.

"Oh, one more thing," Professor Flitwick turned back to them. "Do you have anything to do with Peeves wreaking havoc on a couple dozen of my Ravenclaws just now, Sirius?"

"I don't know what you mean, Sir," Sirius managed to keep a straight face as the Professors both looked at him curiously for a long moment before disappearing through the entrance again.

"Right, that was intense," James stepped away from Pandora and turned to face her. "Hello, I'm James."

"Pandora," giving him a small smile, she shook his hand. "Thank you for your help."

"Not a problem, although I am not quite sure what I was helping with. You blew something up?" James frowned as he turned to Sirius.

"You mean that you don't know what happened?" Evans raised an eyebrow.

"Not a clue. I returned from detention, which Slughorn had forgotten about by the way, to find several Gryffindors standing outside, trying to eavesdrop on what was happening in here. I just caught the last of what you said about keeping her here and decided to help."

Evans stared at him incredulously before throwing her hands up in defeat and turning on her heels, muttering something about impossible idiots under her breath.

"So, what did you blow up?"

"The entrance of Ravenclaw Tower. I didn't have the patience for the Riddle," Sirius cleared his throat as James stared at him.

"What was the riddle?"

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening?" Pandora revealed softly. "The answer is actually quite simple when I can think about it."

"A human," Sirius and James answered at the same time, smiling as they looked at each other.

"Maybe I should have let the knocker finish his riddle, after all," Sirius sighed.

"This was more dramatic," Pandora admitted, flushing as they looked at her incredulous. "It was. Everyone looked frightened of your temper even though you weren't losing it at all, just impatient."

"How did you know I wasn't angry?"

"I just knew," Pandora shrugged, glancing at the door Evans had retreated through before turning back to them again. "You made a lasting impression on Professor Flitwick."

"How so?" Sirius asked curiously, cocking his head to the side.

"He called you by your given name. He only does so with students he truly likes," Pandora smiled as James grinned widely.

"Then I know I will need to work hard to gain that status, too. Can't let you have all the fun," he teased Sirius as he flushed.

Noticing Pandora shifted her weight and glanced at the door Evans had disappeared through longingly, Sirius smiled. He could understand her desire to just hide away for a while, not having to face anyone.

"You know you don't have to stay here with us, right? They aren't going to be able to force you to leave against your will. I will see you at dinner, unless you would like me to fetch something to eat from the kitchen so you can remain here?"

"No, I won't let them get to me," Pandora swallowed. "If I do not face them now, I might never dare to do so again. But while I do not wish to let them get to me, would you perhaps stay with me during dinner?"

She flushed and shifted nervously, but it had not even crossed Sirius' mind as an option as he fully intended to remain with her for as long as she needed it to feel safe again.

"I had kind of expected you to remain at the Gryffindor table during dinner, at least for as long as you want."

"But what if Professor McGonagall tries to force me to return to Ravenclaw Tower?" she asked softly.

"She can't, remember?"

"And even if she could, we won't let her," James promised her, sending her an easy grin that she answered hesitantly with a nod.

"Thank you, I cannot say that enough," she glanced at the door once more.

"Go settle in, we'll come get you when it is time for dinner," Sirius promised and with another small smile, she hurried off.

Watching her disappear through the door, James turned to him. "So, what happened to make you blow up Ravenclaw Tower's entrance and why was she wearing your cloak?"


	8. Chapter 8

Because it is my little sister's 28th birthday today, you are getting the new chapter a day early. Hope you'll enjoy it! Happy birhday Ra-chan!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Can you believe we are finally getting those lessons?" Peter exclaimed, almost skipping as they walked towards the Training Grounds. "It feels like it has taken forever for Madam Hooch to recover from Dragon pox!"

"Watch it," James reached out quickly to prevent Peter from stumbling over a large rock.

"She was still looking rather greenish at breakfast, though," Sirius was the only one of them to not look excited at the prospect of flying, hand sliding back into James' as the other fell back in step with him.

It was something Remus had noticed them doing repeatedly over the course of the last few weeks, but when he had subtly tried to ask James about it, the other had only shrugged and since he didn't dare ask Sirius about it lest he made the other uncomfortable, he had simply accepted it as a quirk of theirs.

"But she's no longer contagious, right?" Peter´s cheerfulness dimmed slightly as worry took over.

"She's not," Sirius assured him.

"If she were, we would have seen plenty of people contaminated already," James agreed cheerfully, squeezing Sirius' hand as the Training Grounds came into view, no one in sight just yet.

"Right," Peter didn't look entirely convinced so Remus decided to change the subject.

"You're going to love flying."

"I can't wait to get back up there, it's been forever since I have been on a broom," James beamed as his eyes roamed over the laid out brooms eagerly.

"What if I fall, though?" Peter swallowed, nerves finally taking over now that they were actually there.

"Then you get back up and try again," James laughed. "Flying is really easy. You tell him, Sirius."

"I wouldn't know."

All three of them turned to stare at him.

"You don't know how to fly?" Remus was surprised, having thought the Pure-Blood would have been taught at an early age already.

"No," Sirius' tone of voice was all but sad, making Remus frown as he tried to think of a possible reason.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"That can't be, you're up on the Astronomy Tower all the time," James looked at Sirius with a mixture of curiosity and worry. "Right?"

"I am, it's not the height," Sirius eyed the brooms laid out on the ground. "I'm just not very fond of the idea of being off the ground with only a thin piece of wood to keep me from splashing my intestines all over the ground."

"That's..." Remus blinked, a horrifying picture forming in his mind, although he was quite sure it wasn't half as gruesome as what Peter was imagining based on the other's expression.

"You are afraid of flying?" Peter's incredulous tone wasn't too surprising as Remus himself found it hard to believe since rarely anything truly seemed to faze Sirius.

"I wouldn't know, I've never had any desire to try."

"Well, you're going to learn now. I'm sure you will love it once you've tried and we'll be playing Quidditch in no time!" James exclaimed, though Sirius looked more doubtful than reassured.

Something that did not improve much when the other students arrived, the broom assigned to him immediately jumped into his hand at his command and he was given the order to mount.

James was already happily hovering a meter or two above the ground, clearly anxious to get going further while Peter was shakily rising as well.

And although Remus himself was also hovering more or less on the same height James was, he found his attention kept being drawn to Sirius as he watched his broom begin to rise steadily.

Sirius had paled rapidly as he rose high enough for his feet to leave the ground; something that was clearly not by his own will as the vibrations of the broom told Remus he was having severe difficulties controlling it.

Alarm rose in Remus as all remaining colour suddenly drained from Sirius' face; the boy automatically tensed back which caused the tip of the broom to rise skyward and Remus immediately knew what was going to happen.

He leaned forward to try and make it to his side in time when James suddenly somersaulted over both his and Peter' hovering forms, ignoring Madam Hooch' yell of outrage.

He came out of it just in time to grab the smaller boy around the waist and pull him off of the broom moments before it shot off into the distance at incredible speed.

Remus' heart skipped in relief as Sirius' feet dangled in the air for a long moment before James gently set him on the ground, though the youngest didn't even seem to notice as he stared off into the distance.

James asked a question too low for Remus to catch before looking into the distance as well, but there was nothing there that caught Remus' attention when he followed their gaze.

Confusion crossed over Sirius' features momentarily as he looked between James and whatever he was seeing.

Landing again, Remus tensed when several of the Slytherins began to snicker as James still had an arm wrapped around Sirius' waist to hold him close despite them being safely on the ground, though neither boy even seemed aware of it as they spoke softly together.

But none of the Slytherins made a comment as they landed at a good distance from the two dark-haired boys.

Not that Remus thought they would have dared to after the display of strength Sirius had shown by blowing up the entrance of Ravenclaw Tower a mere three weeks ago and the resulting protective behaviour James and he had displayed towards the Ravenclaw girl who had been staying with them until recently.

As little common sense as wizards seemed to posses in general, even the most idiotic among them had enough sense of self-preservation to not get on the wrong side of those two right now.

Madam Hooch landed beside them and pulled up her goggles. "That was quite the spectacular rescue, Mister Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor. Everyone is to remain down on the ground while I retrieve Mister Black's broom."

"I would not bother, Madam."

Sirius' words made Madam Hooch raise an eyebrow. "And how do you propose to be able to learn to fly without a broom, Mister Black?"

"Get me something solid to work with that does not look like it will break with a single strong breeze and I promise that I will try again but I am not getting back onto that dead trap. Until you do, I am perfectly happy to remain with both feet on the ground," his eyes finally tore away from whatever he had been staring at and he slipped out of James' hold to turn to her fully.

Madam Hooch wasn't the only one gaping at him as Sirius spoke, though Remus was more alarmed by how proper he was speaking.

Over the course of the last few weeks, Sirius' impeccable proper speech had become rather influenced by their own as they grew closer and the other boy relaxed around them, so to hear it revert back now told him the dark-haired boy was a lot more shaken than he was showing.

It seemed not all Slytherins displayed common sense in not taunting Sirius after his actions a few weeks ago as Snape apparently did not possess any.

"Are you afraid, Black," he sneered from among the other Slytherins and Remus made his way over to his two friends just in case it came to a confrontation.

"Am I afraid of dying? No, but I do not see a reason to go looking for it either," Sirius calmly spoke before James could even open his mouth to defend him.

"You are afraid," Snape taunted even as the other Slytherins subtly moved backwards, not wanting to gain Sirius' ire. "Little cowardly lion."

"Only a complete fool would not have the common sense to be afraid of falling to their death," Sirius raised an eyebrow. "But then, common sense would require having an actual working brain and you seem to be lacking both."

Most of the group snickered, Slytherins included, and Snape's pale complexion grew red in anger.

"Says the fool who needed to be saved from the little evil broom," Snape hissed.

"How horrifying it must be then that he is not the one who has wet his pants in fear," James' snapped words made everyone automatically look at Snape to indeed see a wet spot clearly showing on the front of his robes, causing even more laughter among them all as he hurriedly tried to hide the spot.

"Leave him alone," predictably, Evans strode over with angry steps, always quick to come to Snape's defence without even knowing the whole situation even as Snape flushed in anger. "Why are you always picking on him!"

"Because he is a slimy nosy git who cannot mind his own business as usual," Sirius answered in James' stead, dismissing them both as he turned to look back at the forest once more.

"You are a bully, Black, you and Potter both," Evans spat out even as Madam Hooch stepped forward.

"That is enough, Evans, get back to your broom. Mister Snape, return to the castle to go change your uniform."

Snape bristled but hurried off with the laughter of his year mates echoing after him.

Madam Hooch shook her head and held out the newly Summoned broom. "Get back onto your broom, Mister Black."

"I thought I made myself very clear, Madam. I am not getting on that thing again."

"If you do not, I will have to inform your Head of House," Madam Hooch frowned as Sirius remained in place. "And give you detention for refusing to participate in class."

"Could I petition to have that detention on Saturday? I already have one then and assuming you will let Filch handle it, I can simply take an extra long one?"

Madam Hooch stared at him for a long moment, clearly thrown by his willingness to take the detention over having to get back on the broom and sensing his distraction as he kept glancing towards the forest.

"I will think about it," she hesitated for just a moment, distracted by his repeated glances towards the forest but quickly dismissing it as she clearly didn't see anything either. "But you will not be able to play Quidditch if you do not complete these lessons."

"I have never cared much for Quidditch anyway, Madam," Sirius wrapped his cloak around him more securely even as Madam Hooch looked a little put out by that declaration, as if she couldn't believe someone didn't like Quidditch.

But she clearly did realise there was no way he was going to change his mind and reached up to pull her goggles down again. "Return to the castle, Mister Black. It is too cold to just stand here waiting for the lesson to finish. I will speak with your Head of House and then inform you of my decision."

"Very well, Professor," Sirius gave James a little smile, nodding to something he said too lowly for Remus to hear before making his way off the grounds with a little wave to him and Peter.

"Everyone else, return to your brooms. Let us try hovering once more."

The lesson proceeded without further incidents until the weather turned enough for Madam Hooch to put a stop to it, claiming a storm was coming and Remus, James and Peter made their way back to the castle.

"Do you think Sirius is all right?" Peter asked quietly as he hurried to keep up with James' quick strides, the other for once not trying to slow down for his sake as he was clearly eager to go and find Sirius.

"We'll know soon enough. We just need to find him first," Remus didn't have trouble keeping up with James as his own legs were longer and reached out a hand to help Peter keep up as well.

"That could take hours in here!" Peter complained and although Remus knew he was right, he also knew there was an easier way to find their friend that he couldn't share with the others without raising all sorts of unwanted questions.

"Why don't we split up? That way we can cover more ground in a short period of time," he suggested, relieved when James immediately nodded.

"We'll meet back in the Common Room in an hour," with that he was off and after glancing at Remus a little uncertain, Peter hurried off in another direction.

With his two friends now gone from his side, Remus inhaled deeply; letting the scents around him wash over him as he tried to focus on the one belonging to his missing friend.

Everyone had their own unique scent and Remus had found himself with the ability to pick out his friends from among all those other scents without too much difficulties.

Peter's almost sickly sweet fruity scent was headed west while James' rich scent of grass and peppermint was quickly disappearing south, but the scent he was looking for came more from the north so that was where he headed.

It didn't take long for the airy combination of the woods after a rainy day and parchment to become clearer and he made his way to the library.

Sirius was seated in one of the window sills, a thick book on his raised legs as he skimmed through it.

"There you are," Remus smiled as Sirius looked up at his footsteps.

"Hello, was the lesson done already?"

"The weather turned," leaning against the window sill beside where his friend was seated, Remus glanced at the book the other was reading in. "What are you reading?"

"I'm looking for a creature I saw," Sirius returned his attention back to the book. "James couldn't see it and I want to know why."

"Is that what distracted you during the class and caused you to lose control?"

"Partly, but I also just don't like flying," Sirius didn't look up from the book this time. "I don't want to fly again."

"That's all right," Remus was already much too relieved to hear his friend's more regular speech again that signalled he was feeling better.

"You aren't here to try and change my mind?"Sirius looked up to him surprised. "You like flying."

"And you clearly don't," Remus shrugged as those warm grey eyes remained fixed on his, disbelief visible in them. "We can't all like the same things."

"Right," Sirius didn't look entirely convinced but Remus wasn't sure how to make him believe it truly didn't matter. He wasn't James, who seemed to excel in convincing people they were good at something but could still try.

"You're good at other things. I know you can draw very well while none of us can. And Peter can burp the alphabet," Remus frowned. "Though I am not entirely sure that is something to be proud of to be good at."

He was rewarded by a small smile growing on Sirius' lips. "I'm supposed to meet James and Peter in the Common Room in a little while, having split up to find you. Are you ready to come with me?"

"All right, I can't find it in here anyway," Sirius closed the book and Remus held out his hand to help him down, surprised when Sirius slipped his hand back in his once he had returned the book and they left the library.

"Would you mind if I did this?" Light grey eyes looked up to him curiously. "James said that friends can walk hand in hand if they would like to."

"He did?"

"Yes, he said that we shouldn't care about what others think as long as we are comfortable with it. He also claimed that you would be overjoyed if I were to be willing to do this with you, was he wrong?"

A deep mix of concentration, confusion and a little insecurity crossed Sirius' expression, making Remus swallow his intended words of explaining that usually only small children, girls and people dating did so and that no matter what James claimed, people were reacting to the action funnily.

But he couldn't find it in himself to break it to the boy beside him that James had probably only said that to justify his own actions; especially when he had learned very early on that for all that Sirius was utterly brilliant, he could also be very naive at times, having little to no concept as to what friendships entitled.

Although he himself hadn't had any true friends while growing up due to his condition, he had watched and interacted with enough people besides his parents to know what was acceptable and the norm; something Sirius clearly hadn't had as he grew up sheltered and lonely.

Sirius was trying to cope and act as a friend would, watching people and putting into use what he was learning, though it was sometimes painfully obvious that he had no true idea of what he was doing as he bumbled through the attempts.

It might've been laughable if it hadn't been so utterly sad to realise the other was trying so very hard to do things right and the three of them had taken to gently guide him in the right direction and ignore any blunders made.

And quite frankly, Remus was beyond happy that the other obviously felt comfortable enough in his presence to slip a hand in his like this. Though what he had said about James' claims hadn't been forgotten yet.

"You shouldn't do anything for someone else, just because they might like you to do so. Not when it is not something you yourself do not truly want to do," he felt his heart clench as Sirius looked down at their hands again, feeling a surprising amount of reluctance to let the other boy pull away now.

Although it was odd to be holding another boy's hand, it also felt right to do so and it made Remus feel rather happy to have the other boy so close.

It probably said a lot about him that he was willing to put attention to himself while all he had ever tried was to fade into the background, just to be able to keep Sirius close to him; but he found that he didn't really care either way if Sirius was all right with it.

"You sound like James," Sirius looked back up to him, a smile spreading over his lips. "James makes me feel comfortable and that's why I hold his hand. I would like to hold yours as well at times, if you would let me."

That smile was already enough that Remus was tempted to never let go again, just to make that smile last and he nodded.

"Then I don't mind at all. But do me a favour and only do this with one of us, others might take it the wrong way if you take a hold of their hand," he couldn't help but ensure to imprint that on his naive friend, just in case.

"I have no desire to hold anyone else's hand, though Pandora seems to have taken a liking to taking it when given the chance and I don't really mind when she does as I know it brings her comfort and she doesn't mean anything with it," Sirius paused. "James also said it puts him at ease when we are in close contact and I must admit that I feel the same way."

"Do I do that, too?" Remus couldn't help but ask, nervously looking down as grey eyes looked up to him again.

"I wouldn't be holding your hand now if you didn't."

"Right," a small smile crossed over Remus' lips.

"Though I'm not sure if I should do the same with Peter. I don't really have a desire to do so with him, but he is already reacting strangely to how you and James interact with me and I would hate for him to feel left out."

"That doesn't matter. You should never do anything you are not comfortable with or do not want to do, especially not when it comes to your own body," Remus swallowed as he remembered what his mother had drilled into him all his life and he wondered if anyone had ever warned Sirius about that kind of thing.

"And if someone tries to force you to do something you don't want them to do, you hex them with all that you've got and ensure they will never do so again," he decided to add just in case because he never wanted to see his friend hurt in any way.

"Because no one should touch another against their will, James already made sure I knew that," Sirius eyed their combined hands again. "So, since you've not hexed me, I am to assume the touch is not unwanted?"

Catching the mischievous glint in his friend's eyes, Remus grabbed the edge of his scarf to throw it over Sirius' face in response, drawing a laugh out of him.

Shaking his head as Sirius pushed his scarf back into place, they continued down the hallway hand in hand, separating briefly to let a group of older Hufflepuffs' pass before Remus automatically reached out to take his hand again and he realised James hadn't been mistaken.

The motion felt so natural that he realised he had made the attempt before but had just never dared to complete it before.

He did now however and ignored the lingering stares they got as they softly spoke to each other, Sirius waving to Pandora as they spotted her entering a different hallway with another girl, laughing together.

"How is she doing?" Remus softly asked as she cheerfully returned the greeting.

"She's all right. Found a friend in a fellow first year Ravenclaw called Linn and so far the other Claws are treating her fairly," Sirius smiled. "Professor Flitwick made good on his promise after all."

"I'm glad," Remus was aware of how protective Sirius had become over the girl since he had taken her under his wing.

Not even threats of detentions and point loss had done anything to make Sirius stand down from keeping her safe and it had been both admirable and hilarious to see their Head of House draw the shortest stick and for Pandora to remain where she was.

Especially when Hogwarts' other inhabitants began working against the teachers as Peeves seemed to target the Ravenclaws involved in the bullying specifically in his pranks; waking them at all hours of the night by flying through their dorm while loudly crackling or slamming drums.

Ravenclaws found their possessions misplaced and homework completely gone and even the House-elves refused to clean Ravenclaw Tower or do their laundry. Even their food had become bland and limited in choices compared to the other tables and it had left the teachers with their hands in their hair as they tried to figure out why they were behaving as they did.

Even Moaning Myrtle was causing more trouble than usual by floating all the toilets Ravenclaws usually used and the staircases changed direction more often than not while they were trying to make their way across.

The castle-wide mutiny had lasted a full two weeks, right until the day after Professor Flitwick had finally managed to put wards into place that would prevent anyone from forcing another student out of their dorm against their will among other protections that kept students safe no matter where they were on Hogwarts' grounds.

It had been the Ravenclaw Head of House himself who had come find Sirius and Pandora, taking them both to his office and afterwards, Pandora had returned to her dorm where the girls who had been involved had apologised for their behaviour.

No one quite knew how Sirius had managed to get half of the castle inhabitants to join him in his little rebellion, but everyone firmly believed he had something to do with it, especially when Peeves always greeted him personally whenever their paths crossed and as such, he had gained their grudging respect and awe.

It made Remus want to laugh whenever he overheard theories of potions and illegal spells to make them do their bidding; aware that all the boy had done was give them their friendship. But then, something as simple as treating creatures equally seemed foreign to most wizards and they would probably never understand.

"So, why did you split up to find me?" Sirius' question pulled him out of his thoughts.

"To cover more ground as we didn't quite know where you would have gone. Although the library should have been the obvious answer," Remus laughed.

"It is fairly difficult to locate someone when you need them in a castle this big," Sirius mused. "But I might have something that can help with that."

"Oh?" Curiously, Remus looked at the parchment Sirius pulled out of his pocket, taking it when it was handed over to him. "What is this?"

"A map I created to be able to prevent running into any of my relatives when I am alone," Sirius shrugged when Remus looked at him incredulously. "I know; it's not very Gryffindor behaviour."

"It's brilliant!" Remus cut Sirius off as he looked at the dots moving through the different faintly sketched hallways. "How did you ever manage to make this?"

"Grandfather has been giving me private lessons for years now, since I am the Heir, so he taught me about Blood magic and Uncle Alphard taught me how to use location spells," a mischievous smile crossed over Sirius' lips. "But my cousin Andromeda taught me how to use said Blood magic to locate relatives on a simple Muggle City Map and I wondered if I might be able to recreate that idea on a map of Hogwarts. But since there's no such map, I decided to try and draw my own."

"It's brilliant," Remus repeated, blinking as he noticed two bright red dots among the sea of small green and occasionally blue and yellow dots. There were even several faint red dots on there, but none as brightly as the first two he had noticed. "Is that us?"

"Not you, that is James," Sirius flushed. "Because I used Blood magic when making this, it added everyone with a clear Black ancestry in their bloodline. His mother is a Black so he was automatically added and I simply tweaked it to make him stand out among the others. I wanted to add you and Peter as well, but haven't quite figured out how to do so, since we don't share any blood."

"Maybe James has an idea," Remus looked down at the map again. "I hope you know how amazing this is?"

"I've figured out how to include names to the little dots, but haven't had the chance to apply it yet. I thought it might be useful if I could add everyone in the castle onto it so that we would always know where everyone is, keeping us alerted to nearby teachers as well during our mischief. But I haven't figured out how to do that yet, either."

"I'm sure that we can figure it out between the four of us," Remus smiled as he realised James' little dot was heading towards Gryffindor Tower, marvelling at the magic used to make this. "We can make this into the perfect map of Hogwarts."

"Could come in handy," Sirius agreed, accepting the map back and returning it to his pocket as they continued on their way to the Common Room.

"So, tell me about this animal you saw that James didn't."

"You aren't going to believe me," Sirius sighed. "I'm not even sure I believe it and I saw it with my own eyes."

"Try me," Remus challenged him.

"It was the skeleton of a horse with large bat-like wings."

Blinking, Remus looked down at his friend. "What?"

Incredulous he listened as Sirius described the animal he had seen, never having heard of such a creature and wondered how the boy beside him could have seen it when no one else had noticed it.

"Well, whatever it is, we will help you find it," he promised easily, aware that if Sirius believed there had been something then that most likely had been the case. With magic anything was possible after all.

"There you are!" James' relieved voice greeted them as they stepped into the Common Room, stopping the pacing he had clearly been doing. "Where were you?"

"In the library to try and find that creature."

"And?" James took a seat beside Sirius as he sat down.

"Nothing so far."

"What creature?" Peter asked as Remus sat down on the couch beside him.

"I saw a horse-like creature at the edge of the forest when up in the air," Sirius explained. "It startled me but when I told James, he said that he couldn't see it. So I am trying to find it to explain why I can see it but he can't."

"What does it look like?"

"Pretty much like a skeleton of a black horse, though it did look like there was some sort of thin layer of skin covering the bones. It also had a long black mane and a tail as well as large wings not unlike those of vampires."

"A dead horse?" Peter looked frightened by the description alone even as James rose to his feet to retrieve a scroll of parchment.

"Do you think you can draw it?"

"I can try," accepting the scroll and pencil, Sirius set to work and in no time at all there was a rough sketch of a scary looking horse with reptilian features and large leathery looking wings presented to them.

"That thing looks like something straight out of the Night of the Living Dead," Peter shuddered.

"Your parents let you watch that?" Remus had to admit that he had a point, though the creature also had something eerily beautiful about it despite its sinister features.

"Well, no, Mum would have never let me see something like that. But I saw the posters hanging at the cinema," Peter beamed. "It looked terrifying."

"Are living dead what I assume they are?" James asked.

"I'm fairly sure, yes," Remus smiled faintly as both Pure-Blood boys shuddered this time.

"I don't think this creature was like an Inferius, though," Sirius softly spoke up. "It didn't feel dark or sinister."

"It did almost let you crash off your broom," Peter pointed out, but Sirius shook his head.

"No, I was just startled at the sight of it and already having trouble controlling that broom. It wasn't the creature's fault at all. I would like to see it again, though."

"Not before we know what it is, though," James picked up the drawing. "We'll hit the library together tomorrow, see if we cannot find what it is."

"We could also just ask a teacher," Peter suggested, clearly not looking forward to spending hours in the library again.

"Not until we know why he could see it but I couldn't," James dismissed Peter's words. "We don't know what it is or what it does. Unless you think it might be dangerous?"

"No," Sirius frowned. "I can't explain how I know, but it's not evil."

"Then we're keeping this to ourselves until we have figured out what it is and why only he could see it," James decided as he rolled up the parchment and put it into his bag. "But I think that right now we could use a little distraction. How about a game?"

"We should probably change out of our uniforms first," Remus noted, making them realise they were still wearing their wet clothes, only Sirius was wearing dry clothes under his cloak.

"Are you cold?" James eyed Sirius' cloak.

"A little. But I was wearing my sweater underneath my uniform and when I returned to retrieve it after changing, the clothes had already been taken for washing."

"If you'd like, I could give you one of my sweaters to wear?" James suggested. "It would keep you warm without restricting your movements as much as that cloak does. It shouldn't be too big either."

Nodding, Sirius retrieved the game of Ludo while the three of them hurried up to the dorm to change and came down just in time to see Sirius had set the table around the comfortable seats before the fireplace, where they all gratefully sat down after Sirius had exchanged his cloak for James' sweater.

"Does it bother you?"

The question brought Remus back to awareness and he realised he had dozed off somewhere during their third game of Ludo. He was curled up on the chair with his legs pulled up and someone had pulled a plaid over him to keep him warm.

"What bothers me?" Peter's voice was a little louder than Sirius' had been, though he was doing his best to keep it down.

"That I don't touch you as freely as I do them."

Biting back a laugh at how that had come out, Remus tried to remain quiet as to not distract either of his friends, especially as he was too comfortably warm to move. But he managed to open his eyes a little to find his friends exactly as they had when he had last seen them, a new game of Ludo between them now and he wondered how long he had been asleep.

James had also dozed off, having slid down in his sleep far enough that he was basically sleeping on Sirius' shoulder, though the other made no move to push him off and instead tried to sit still.

"Uh, not really?" Peter twitched, clearly unsure as to what had brought this subject on. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want you to feel left out or like I don't like you, just because I do not touch you as often."

"You do realise that sounds utterly wrong when you say it like that, don't you?" Peter failed miserably to stifle a laugh a Sirius cocked his head to the side, clearly going back over his own words before wincing.

"But you know what I mean, right?"

"I do," Peter looked down at the game of Ludo between them, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm not a tactile person and never liked it when people touched me, not even mentioning hugs."

He scratched at his arm. "I'm not James or Remus."

"I never thought you were," Sirius frowned. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, James and Remus have been drawing you into their tactile natures since the start, so what brought this up now?"

"I've held Remus' hand today for the first time."

Even Remus had to admit that announcement was a little odd to say out of the blue and he couldn't blame Peter for blinking blankly.

Luckily Sirius seemed to understand his confusion and elaborated. "I've been holding James' hand for a few weeks now and did the same with Remus today. Friends can hold hands if they want to."

It was clear that Peter still didn't understand. "Okay, but you do know that friends, male friends at least, really don't ever do that, right? At least not when they are normal."

"I have a feeling that being normal is severely overrated and I can't really bring myself to truly care what other people think as long as it makes me happy and neither of them minds."

"Holding a boy's hand makes you happy?"

Now Remus truly had to fight to keep in his laughter at Peter's misunderstanding of what Sirius meant, especially as the implication clearly went far over Sirius' head.

"Not every boy, just James and Remus. And occasionally Pandora," Sirius added as an afterthought.

"And you don't care at all that other people whisper behind your back?"

"People seem to be doing little else and I prefer for them to be talking about something that brings me enjoyment than that they talk about things I would mind," Sirius looked down at his hands. "It's not other people I care about, it is you."

"Why would you care what I think of you holding James and Remus' hands?"

"Because you are a friend and I don't want you to feel left out just because I don't have the desire to do the same with you," Sirius' honesty was a little blunt, but this time Peter did seem to understand where he was going.

"Don't," Peter wiped his hands off on his trousers. "I really wouldn't want you to be holding my hand, if it is all the same to you."

"Because you do not enjoy intimacy the way James and Remus do?"

There were so many ways in which that could be taken wrongly and leave both of them embarrassed by the misunderstanding and Remus winced. Peter remained silent long enough for Remus to drowsily begin to drop off again, blinking his eyes open once more when the boy let out a nervous laugh.

"We really need to work on your delivery of sentences like that. Merlin, that was terrible," he bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing again, presumably for James and Remus' sake. "But yes, I don't enjoy people touching me the way James and Remus enjoy it."

"So you would not feel left out?"

"Absolutely not," the reassuring smile Peter plastered on his lips was kind of useless as his voice squeaked.

Sirius smiled as he carefully edged James a little to the side as the other slid further down and clearly became a heavy weight against his shoulder, but still didn't push him off completely while the smile brought out a real one from Peter as well.

"Can we go back to the game now?" There was still more than a little hint of fear in Peter's voice at the prospect of having to continue this line of conversation, something Sirius might have sensed as he simply nodded and picked up the dice.

James nuzzled closer into Sirius' side in his sleep, the plaid wrapped around him being pulled up a little by careful hands to keep him covered before the dice was rolled and a pawn moved.

It was to the sound of that dice rolling that Remus drifted back off to sleep once more, a smile on his lips.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Due to a long awaited holiday, there will be no update for the upcoming two weeks. The next update will most likely be on the 17th of November. To make up for the lack of an update, you're getting a whole chapter with my two favourite Marauders.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Startling awake in the middle of the night, James groggily tried to figure out what had woken him.

A soft, almost inaudible whimper caught his attention and he immediately felt wide awake as he realised it was coming from Sirius' bed.

Throwing his blankets to the side, he padded over to the other's bed to see if his friend was all right.

Sirius himself wasn't tossing or turning, though the comforter had been thrown back despite the cold and just from the expression of discomfort on the boy's face, he could tell he was having a nightmare.

"Sirius?" without a single thought, he reached out to place a hand on the sleeping boy's shoulder while slipping onto the bed so that he could get better access to him.

Almost immediately a powerful hex slammed into his chest and he fell backwards, tipping over the edge of the bed and landing painfully on the cold ground.

"What was that for?!" James groaned, rubbing his bottom where it was tingling painfully from connecting with the floor harshly while the other rubbed over his chest where the curse had connected.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Sirius' eyes were completely blank as he grabbed his wand from the night-stand and aimed it at James, his entire body tense like James was an attacker he needed to defend himself against.

"I was trying to comfort you!"

"By crawling into my bed?"

"You were having a nightmare!" James fought his instinctive urge to flee from the clearly dangerous situation, feeling there had to be a reason his friend would react this violently to his actions. "What other reason could I possibly have to crawl into your bed in the middle of the night?!"

The tenseness in Sirius' body lessened a little as he gave James a strange, unreadable look, but the wand did not lower in the slightest. "What does me having a bad dream have to do with you crawling into my bed?"

"To comfort you, you daft idiot, surely..." in his annoyance at being treated like an enemy, James almost didn't swallow the rest of his words in time, but managed to turn it into some unintelligent grumbled huffs that made Sirius twitch.

Because suddenly he was absolutely sure that no, Sirius never had anyone to comfort him after a nightmare. A simple friendly slap on the shoulder or a friendly brush of shoulders had not been things his friend had been familiar with, let alone something that counted as actual comfort.

No wonder he had freaked and lashed out in defence when someone had suddenly crawled into his bed without warning.

"I'm sorry, I...I was trying to comfort you," taking a deep breath to squash down his ever growing anger at another piece of evidence of Sirius' crappy parents, for anger was not something he needed to fuel Sirius' misgivings right now. "I should have tried to wake you before creeping into your bed like some kind of assaulter."

Merlin only knew how many assassins had tried to kill him that way in the past, targeting him as he slept.

"That might have been a smarter move," Sirius tossed his wand back onto the night-stand before crawling out of bed and held out a hand. "I'm sorry that I hexed you. But why were you trying to comfort me?"

"Because you were upset and you are my friend. It is only natural to want to help a friend when they are distressed," James stared at the wand in confusion for a moment as he let Sirius help him back up, realising Sirius had only grabbed it after he had already hexed him.

"I understand that part, what I don't get is why you would think crawling into my bed would possibly be of any help."

"You haven't had many hugs, have you?" James eyed his friend, trying to recalled if he had ever pulled him into a hug before, but the closest thing that came in mind were the time he had grabbed hold of Sirius before he lost completely control of his broom and then the times he had fallen asleep against him during their game nights.

"You've slung your arm around me several times," Sirius said.

"That is not a proper hug," James protested, making up his mind. "I am going to hug you now, please don't hex me while you decide for yourself if it helps you or not."

Giving his friend a moment to process his words, he slowly reached out and wrapped his arms around Sirius' shoulders; making sure to keep his hold loose as the other tensed up completely.

But Sirius did not immediately pull back, so James counted it as a win.

"A hug is usually more enjoyable when both participate in the embracing, you know?" He eventually murmured into Sirius' hair as the other stood stiffly in his hold, a smile automatically forming as a pair of arms hesitantly reached up.

He had to fight back tears at how awkwardly Sirius tried to figure out where to put his hands as even small toddlers naturally knew how to hug another person, but his friend clearly didn't quite understand.

He finally settled on James' lower back and James shifted so that Sirius' cheek was resting against his shoulder blade, allowing him to breathe properly.

The new position allowed James to tuck the other boy's head under his chin and almost immediately he felt the tensing in Sirius ease somewhat as the hug did what it was supposed to do.

"How long do hugs usually last?" Sirius eventually murmured; his voice even quieter than normal. It was much longer than James had though the other boy would let him hold him and he smiled as he pulled back enough so that Sirius could look up to him.

"That depends. In meeting, a hug is usually only briefly. Other times it truly depends on what you both want and where you are."

"And what's proper in this situation?"

It was quite amusing to see reluctance to let go in the other boy's expression after he had been so hesitant to receive one in the first place, but now was not the time to tease the other and he simply pulled him close again.

"This is different. Comfort hugs don't count among normal ones, they are special and can last for as long as you want," he settled on as he remembered how often his parents had pulled him into a hug for no other reason than that they felt like it and decided it was something he would like to share with Sirius as well.

"But what if I never tell you to stop?"

James' heart broke at how small Sirius sounded right then, how unsure of boundaries that should come as natural as breathing as he asked a question that should never need to be asked.

"Then I am never letting go," he swallowed as he pulled Sirius even closer. "When I was younger and I had a nightmare, Mum would always get into bed with me and just hold me until I would fall back asleep again."

"You were planning to stay with me all night if you believed it to be necessary?" Sirius was the one who pulled back then, looking up at James with bright but confused eyes.

"Of course. We aren't just friends for the laughs, you know? It's in both good and bad times; for comfort and when we are scared as well."

Sirius looked down, different emotions flashing through his features before it seemed to settle on curious.

"Remus has nightmares sometimes as well and it always seems to help him when I sit at his bedside until he falls asleep again, is that kind of the same thing then?"

"Why did you sit at his bedside?"

"Because I don't want him to be alone when he looks so scared," Sirius admitted, looking down at his hands. "Because I don't know how else to help."

"Just being there already helps him," James hesitated, not sure if he should say more to not confuse the other even more but in the end he couldn't bear not to. "But sometimes just sitting there is not enough and a hug can help even more when someone is scared."

"But I'm not scared any more."

"That's good, isn't it?" James frowned as Sirius looked down even more unsure than before and tried to figure out what he'd said wrong when he caught a small twitch in his friend's hand, like he wanted to reach out but didn't dare to do so.

"Hugs can be given at any moment and whenever the desire strikes, you know?" He tried to prompt Sirius, not wanting to jump to conclusions based upon what he himself wanted to do. "It's not just when someone is scared."

"But how do you know it will be accepted or even appreciated?"

"By asking or reading someone's body language to see if it would be appreciated," James smiled and opened his arms a little. "Or just by going for it."

Sirius glanced at his open arms momentarily confused before he seemed to understand what James was getting at and a small smile crossed over his lips as he stepped forward with only the smallest bit of hesitation.

The embrace was a lot smoother than the first had been as Sirius automatically leaned his cheek against James' shoulder and rested his hands on James' lower back, so James simply held him close.

"Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"

A firm shake of the head was the immediate answer, so James simply nodded. "All right, just know I am here if you ever want to talk."

Sirius' hold on him tightened slightly as he shifted, almost like he was afraid he would pull back again, so James tightened his own hold to assure him he wasn't going anywhere.

"You don't ever have to ask me permission for a hug, you know? It will always be appreciated and accepted," he breathed into Sirius' ear, heart skipping a beat; the other almost seemed to melt into his arms as the remaining tension vanished completely and he knew it had been the right words to say.

The small change in Sirius' breathing told James the other was crying, but he did not speak up, simply rubbed one hand over Sirius' back to try and comfort him while keeping a tight hold with the other so he would know he wasn't trying to end the embrace. Questions were not something his friend needed right now, so James swallowed all of them as fingers curled into his pyjama jacket.

He wasn't quite sure how long they just stood there, locked in an embrace before Sirius eventually pulled back again, not quite meeting his eyes.

"So, want to teach me that hex you used? It's one heck of a defence," James decided to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and took Sirius' hand to pull him back to his bed, bouncing a little as he dropped down on the mattress.

"My relatives thrive on hexes and curses so I picked up on quite a few of them as a result. I am sorry that I used one against you, does it still hurt?"

"Just stings a little," James admitted, automatically rubbing at the spot. "I should have known better than to do something like that without warning you in advance, though. You are a bit of a wild cat, approach with caution."

Sirius picked up his wand and a murmured spell later, the lingering sting disappeared.

"Definitely need to teach me that," James decided, eyeing Sirius as he yawned. "What do you think about returning to bed?"

"I...I guess," Sirius didn't look remotely happy to have to return to bed so James spoke before he could second guess himself enough to automatically pull back and give his friend space he clearly didn't want or needed right now.

"I could stay with you tonight, if you'd like?" But at Sirius' surprised blink, he couldn't stop himself from adding, "Unless you are not comfortable with that idea? I don't want you to say yes, just because I want to help."

"I...yes."

James wasn't sure which of the two was the most surprised by Sirius' quick agreement, but slipped under the covers without saying anything, trying not to smile as Sirius was rather quick to join him, though they both remained seated upright against the metal headboard.

"Just so you know, if you ever do say no and make it known you are not comfortable with something or just don't want to do something; a friend will never hold that against you or try to push you anyway. If they do, then they are not very good friends," he couldn't help but make sure his friend knew that.

"But what if you don't know if you are uncomfortable with something until it is already happening?"

"Then you make it known in that moment, no matter how much it might hurt someone else's pride or cause them difficulties," James looked at Sirius and shifted. "You are more than allowed to kick me out, you know?"

"No!" lightening fast, Sirius' hand shot out to curl his fingers in James' sleeve, flushing even as he had tensed again completely. "I mean...unless you...I..."

"I'm fine if you want me here," James reached up to take Sirius' hand in reassurance that he wasn't going anywhere unless he wanted him to. "I just meant to say that you are within your right to say no and people, especially your friends should respect that. If they don't, then you force them away from you in any way possible. That hex of yours is a good way or even better, slam a knee into their gut or private area. That should get them to back off."

"I have been thinking of learning Muggle defence methods," Sirius admitted, slowly relaxing again now that he knew James wasn't going anywhere. "Because although hexing someone works well, it is not an option when your wand is taken from you and I'm not exactly built the strongest physically."

"You expect your wand to be taken from you?" James asked even though he understood what Sirius meant.

"I don't know, I want to learn just in case, though," Sirius hesitated, looking down at their hands as he grew solemn. "There is a war going on."

"We are safe here."

"We might be now, but who says that won't change? Sooner or later that war will reach us and I would rather not be caught unprepared."

"We are just kids," James frowned. "What could Voldemort possibly want with the likes of us?"

"They won't care about our age," Sirius swallowed. "I heard things at my relatives' house, things that Voldemort is doing out there. We might be children now, but we won't be forever. We are the next generation of magic and if Voldemort has any sense, he is going to want to control that sooner or later."

"He wouldn't dare go against the Ancient and Noble Houses," though James wasn't quite sure of that as he, too, had heard stories about what Voldemort and those who followed him did, the murders they committed in the name of blood purity.

"Why not? More and more members of the old Houses are joining his cause each day, and not just the dark ones either. With their support, he can simply overthrow the Houses that stand against him and kill everyone else who stands in his way."

"The war could also be over in no time, though," James didn't really believe that, though, and Sirius' raised eyebrow told him the other saw right through him.

"Even if the war might not reach Hogwarts itself, you and I will become involved whether we want to or not and regardless of where we are."

"Because we are the Heirs," it was James' turn to swallow. "They will make us take a stance regardless of our age or own desires."

"I need to be ready for that."

"You mean we," James took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. "We will need to train our magical cores and learn as much spells as we can; become as strong as we can be so that when the time comes that we need to fight, we will be ready."

"Not just spells, but also defensive and offensive techniques. Transfiguration, Healing and Potions. You never know what might be thrown at us. Muggle fighting techniques are important to learn, too. Most wizards are defenceless when their wand is taken from them and I'd rather not be one of those."

"That might not be an issue either way for you," James ran a hand through his hair as Sirius shot him a confused look. "You hadn't noticed, had you?"

"What?"

"You weren't holding a wand when I woke you up, you hexed me with wandless magic," James huffed out a laugh. "I don't know why I am surprised, though. The things you can do with your magic is amazing and will only continue to grow as we train."

"I hadn't realised," Sirius frowned. "But nevertheless, I would still like to learn Muggle defence methods and perhaps some of those karate thingies Peter keeps talking about too, just in case."

"Then we will learn together," James decided. "Because you are right, it is better to be safe than sorry."

Sirius gave a single nod before looking down at their hands again. "You would let me know as well, right? If I did something that would make you uncomfortable?"

"I promise," James squeezed Sirius' fingers. "But I am a very tactile person so I am more comfortable with things than most others ever would be."

"That is not entirely true," Sirius disagreed. "You are not really tactile with others; you only ever reach out to me and very occasionally Remus, but even that is rare."

Chuckling at the insight as although Sirius was naive at times, he was a lot more perceptive than they gave him credit for sometimes, James nodded. "Let me rephrase that, I am tactile with people I am comfortable with."

"Which I do."

It wasn't a question since they had had the conversation before, but James still nodded. "I should hope so, you are my closest friend. I dare-say you are even my best friend. It would be a problem if you didn't make me feel comfortable."

"How can you tell when someone is?"

"Mum always said that a best friend is the one person you are the most comfortable with, the one person you want to go to when something happens in your life; no matter if it is good or bad. She told me that you can tell them anything; all of your secrets without ever being judged and they will be honest with you, even if you do not want to hear it," James smiled as he thought of his mother's words, a small pang of homesickness shooting through him.

But almost as soon as it did, he felt Sirius shift to lean slightly against him and it was gone again.

"A best friend is the one person who will always forgive you; even when you yourself do not believe you deserve it. They will stay at your side no matter how badly you mess up and will tell you off when you are being a git."

"That are quite a few qualifications to fulfil," Sirius commented softly, looking down at their hands once more. "But that still doesn't tell me how you know if someone is your best friend."

"I don't know, you just do. Just like all those things best friends do come automatically," James shrugged. "I can't explain it very well."

"But what if you do consider someone your best friend, but still don't tell them everything?" A pang of sadness shot through James at the idea that Sirius didn't trust him, before he continued. "Either because you don't want to, or just can't."

"Nothing changes. No real friend would ever push you to reveal things you are not ready to reveal or force you to do things you don't want to do. Not unless there are life-threatening circumstances involved. A best friend is just there, no need to talk about anything at all if you don't want to," he forced himself to say evenly even as alarm rushed through him at what his friend could possibly mean with that. "And just because someone calls you their best friend, it doesn't necessarily means they are yours. It is something you decide for yourself and no one else."

James could almost see the wheels in Sirius' head spinning as he processed his words.

"But won't that make other friends sad? If you choose a best friend that is not them?"

"I never really thought about that," James scratched at his temple. "But just because I call you my best friend, it doesn't mean I don't care about Remus or Peter. It just means you are the one I care about most and it is you I seek out first."

He smiled as Sirius nodded thoughtfully, lightly brushing against his shoulder. "But why don't we leave this conversation for another day and get some sleep first?"

Sirius moved away as James slid down to get comfortable on the bed and although he expected him to lay down beside him a little awkwardly, he surprised him by curling into his side.

"I cannot believe he slept throughout all of our noise."

Glancing over Sirius to the bed at the far end of the room, he chuckled. "I think we have established by now that nothing short of an explosion will wake him up. Remus, on the contrary, would have been woken the moment you hexed me. I do hope his mother will be all right."

"I'm sure she will feel a little better soon," Sirius' voice held such confidence that James automatically believed him and carefully manoeuvred his arm around Sirius to pull him a little closer, half expecting the other to stop him.

But instead Sirius curled closer against him, resting his head against James' shoulder automatically, making James' heart sing at the clear display of comfort.

"When the war does reach us and we'll be forced to make a stance, you know where I stand, right?" the return to their previous conversation surprised James a little and he couldn't stop himself from swallowing thickly.

"I know," he had always known, since the moment he met him. "Your relatives will give you trouble over it, though."

"I made my choice when I choose Gryffindor over Ravenclaw," Sirius sounded determined. "I am not them and never will be."

"I know," James tucked him closer against his side. "You won't ever be like them. But it won't be easy."

"I'm not really expecting it to be, but I know where I want to be," Sirius' hold on him tightened a little. "These past few months are the happiest I've ever been and I want to defend that, defend this. No one has the right to claim they are better than someone else and hurt others."

"They don't and we will work hard so that we can protect what we care for and fight for what is right," James decided, pressing a kiss into Sirius' hair almost unthinkingly before tensing.

"What was that for?" Sirius shifted slightly to be able to look up to him with curious grey eyes, though to James' relief there was no discomfort in his gaze.

"I don't know," James admitted honestly. "It just felt like the right thing to do, sorry."

"I don't mind, it actually didn't feel so weird," Sirius bit his lip. "It was kind of what you always read people doing for their family in those books Remus' mother sent him."

"Well, I have always wanted a little brother," James teased, relaxing as Sirius snorted and curled up against him again.

"Maybe a brother like you wouldn't be such a bad thing."

James more felt that saw Sirius smile and squeezed his shoulder in response as he definitely wouldn't mind having Sirius for a little brother.

It didn't take long for Sirius' breathing to deepen and the warm presence securely at his side lured James back to sleep as well.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: After a much needed and very amazing holiday to my favourite place in the world, we're back with a new chapter. I just wanted to let everyone reading this know that just because I do not reply to every single review does not mean I don't appreciate them. So thank you to everyone who takes the time to review and know I love them!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Every muscle in Remus' body tensed as he heard Sirius shriek, bursting into their usual meeting spot with his wand raised in time to see the boy being turned upside down by an invisible force while James was sprawled out on the ground.

But even as he hurriedly tried to think of a spell to help him, Sirius let out a surprised laugh.

Blinking confused, Remus took a second look at the scene he had walked into as his friend muttered a spell and Peeves suddenly appeared above him with a yelp while dropping the boy.

Sirius dropped into a roll to land and began to shoot spells at the Poltergeist; changing his hideous neon green vest red and covered it in purple polka dots as well as shooting his bell covered hat from his head, even before he ended his roll into a crouch.

He cheered as he caught the hat with his magic before Peeves could grab it, Summoning it to him and Peeves turned upside down as he crackled in laughter as a tickling charm hit him.

"You win," the Poltergeist bowed as Sirius released his spell and accepted back his hat.

"What are you doing?"

Sirius swirled around at the sound of Remus' voice with his wand drawn, but even as his face lit up he was tackled by a black blur, making him yelp as he was knocked off his feet.

Feeling like an utter idiot standing there with his wand drawn as James laughingly pinned Sirius to the ground, Remus put away his wand as it was clear neither of them were under attack in any way.

"Welcome back, Remus," James cheerfully greeted him, yelping as Sirius managed to struggle loose enough to place a well aimed kick to his leg but managed to pin him in place once more. "You're back early; I thought the train didn't arrive until five?"

"It's after five," Remus dryly commented, not entirely sure if he should step in to help Sirius as the other was clearly having trouble breaking free. "Mind if I ask exactly what you are doing?"

"We are practising."

"Practising what?" smiling as Sirius suddenly twisted enough to unbalance James and knock him to the side, Remus stepped forward to help him up before he could be pinned down again.

"Thank you," Sirius breathed out. "We're strengthening our magical core and increasing our stamina, would you like to join us?"

"Eh...no, thank you," he didn't think he would be able to explain why he was so much stronger than them but Sirius was luckily distracted as James tried to tackle him once more.

But Peeves acted before he could, pulling the rug they were wrestling on out from under them and James squeaked as he slipped and tumbled straight into Sirius, knocking them both down again.

"That's unfair!" James protested even as Sirius laughed; a carefree laugh that Remus hadn't heard from him before as Peeves roared in laughter as well.

The Poltergeist floated up behind Sirius as they untangled themselves, sticking out his orange tongue before dropping a water balloon, squeaking as the balloon bounced off a bluish white shield, bursting as it did.

Peeves was soaked and, after blinking stupidly for several moments, cracked out in laughter once more before tossing a pile of books to the ground. "Ready for a new round?"

"Bring it on," Sirius raised his hand and the same shield formed over the books, a ball of pure magic formed in Peeves' hands, attacking the shield with them.

"What is that?" Remus stared in awe as Peeves formed more crackling magic in his hands as the balls disappeared upon impact.

"A specialized Protego," James answered as Sirius was focusing completely on maintaining the shield.

"But the Shield Charm is Fourth year material; you said you were working on Second year spells!"

"That was weeks ago," James snorted. "Siri and I have been playing around with all kinds of spells now. And this doesn't really count as it is a speciality of his that he has been developing for years apparently."

They watched Peeves attack the shield relentlessly for several minutes before Sirius began to falter, his arm trembling and Remus suddenly realised he wasn't holding a wand. "How is he doing that?"

"With wandless magic," the pride was clear to hear in James' grin. "We discovered he can use wandless magic shortly before Christmas and have been working on training that ability ever since."

"That's amazing!" Remus exclaimed even as James eyed Sirius' efforts for a moment before suddenly sending a stinging curse his way. It was blocked by the same shield he was holding on the books, but both immediately faltered afterwards, disappearing even as Sirius collapsed.

James reacted quicker than Remus could and caught him before he could actually fall, gently lowering them both to the floor as Sirius was breathing heavily and trembling slightly. "Darn it."

The crackling balls disappeared from Peeves' hands as he straightened. "Is he all right?"

"Tired and he's mean," Sirius complained as he leaned into James' side for a long moment as he caught his breath. "I still can't hold it for long and lose control the moment I try to defend myself as well."

"You lasted longer than last time," Peeves floated down to reassure himself he truly was all right. "Were you absorbing the magic I used?"

"I was trying to strengthen the shield that way after what you told me happened near Christmas, but I couldn't maintain it very well despite the power boost," Sirius sighed. "I can hold the shield up to fifteen minutes with my wand despite being under constant attack by now, but barely manage to do so wandlessly for five minutes."

"With practice, that shield will become near unyielding no matter the possession of a wand," Peeves assured him. "And not many wizards in Western Culture can use wandless magic in the first place."

"I know I'm being silly, but it's still frustrating."

"Why exactly are you doing this?" Remus felt stupid for having to ask again, but he didn't understand what the two were doing.

"We are preparing for the future," James answered as he helped Sirius up.

"The future?" Remus raised an eyebrow as Sirius breathed out slowly before raising his wand; chairs and tables returning to their usual positions with a muttered spell.

"Yes," James nodded.

"The future included you both being attacked by water balloons and crackling balls of pure magic?"

"That is just for training," Sirius' smile had disappeared again and he looked at Remus more serious than he'd ever seen him before. "There is a war going on outside of these walls. A war that we will become involved in eventually and we want to be ready for it."

Remus wasn't deaf to the stories going around about Voldemort's forces growing or the deeds the man performed and chances were that it would indeed reach them before the end of it.

But he didn't understand what his friends thought they could do and he voiced as much.

"It doesn't matter what we can or cannot do," James ran a hand through his hair. "We will become involved, whether we like it or not."

"You don't have to," but Remus didn't believe that himself, not really. He and Peter might be able to walk away from the war without becoming involved, if no one ever discovered exactly what he was, but that would not be an option for his two friends and Sirius confirmed his belief.

"We are the Heirs to two of the old Houses," Sirius softly said. "One is already openly fighting Voldemort and the other's members are steadily joining his cause every day."

"What does that mean for the two of you?"

James sighed. "They will force us to take a stance one day and we will need to be ready for that."

"But your Houses stand on different sides in this," Remus realised. "How will you face each other?"

A flash of hurt crossed Sirius' expression before turning grim. "You seem to be quite sure that we will stand on opposite sides."

"They are your family," Remus found that he could not look away from the intensive gaze in those stony grey eyes and swallowed, not quite sure why he suddenly felt so horrible.

"I am not my relatives," Sirius' voice was like steel, the intensity only disappearing out of his gaze when James' hand found his and he sighed, eyes softening as he looked at the other boy. "I made my choice."

Sirius' answer only managed to confuse Remus, especially as James squeezed his friend's hand in clear understanding, but he couldn't bring himself to ask for clarification, not when it would most likely bring back that stony gaze he found he never wanted to see again.

"We both did," James' eyes were unreadable as he looked at Sirius while the other turned to Peeves and raised his wand at him questioning.

The Poltergeist spread his short pale arms wide and a muttered incantation later Peeves' clothes began to steam and dry but he shook his head as Sirius raised his wand again.

"I rather like my clothes as they are now," Peeves grinned and stroked a hand over his hideous vest. "Leave them for now."

"All right, same time next week?"

"That would be great. What kind of ammunition should we count on?" Sirius and James both straightened their robes.

"I was thinking of knives and other sharp pointy things," the grin on Peeves' pale face wasn't filled with malice despite his words, a look of almost fond pride in his eyes as he stared down at Sirius.

"All right, thank you, Peevsie," Sirius grinned mischievously as the Poltergeist balked in laughter, clearly approving of the nickname.

"I won't hold back...Silly Siri," Peeves teased back, cackling in laughter as Sirius barked out a laugh in response. "Be sure to have Potty Potter practice or I will make him drop another pot on his own head."

"That was one time!" James protested even though he couldn't hold back his own laughter.

"We will make sure to practice," Sirius patted James' shoulder in comfort. "Until next week."

"Next week," Peeves nodded to Remus before disappearing and James picked up the two disregarded cloaks they had hung over one of the chairs, handing one over to Sirius. "Where is Peter?"

"I assume in the kitchen. He wanted to get something to eat before dinner after arriving so I said I would go look for you two."

"Did you have a lot of trouble finding us?" Sirius slipped a hand in James' as they walked down the hallway.

"Not at all. It was either the library or the Astronomy Tower when it's snowing like this. I was on my way to the Astronomy Tower when I heard your voices," it wasn't an entire lie as his nose had indeed led him into the direction of the Astronomy Tower.

"Are we truly that predictable?"

"A little, but only because I know where you like to hang out," Remus tried to reassure Sirius without looking guilty.

"Hmm, we need to find new hiding places that not everyone would be able to locate so easily," James grumbled.

"Then we are going to need to pick up on our idea to enhance that map I made, making sure everyone is included through the idea Peeves gave me so we always know where everyone is," Sirius said. "It wouldn't do to find new hiding places if others can just follow us to them when we aren't careful."

"That sounds like a good idea. We can see if we can find anything else that might be useful for the map in the library after the holidays ended, Siri," James blinked as Remus turned to him. "What did I do?"

"Siri?" Remus teased, laughing as James flushed.

"I don't know, I didn't even realise I used it, sorry," James turned to Sirius apologetic.

"Don't be, you've been calling me that since just before Christmas already," Sirius shrugged, smiling as James flushed even more, clearly not having been aware. "I don't mind, brothers usually have nicknames for their younger siblings, don't they?"

James' answering smile was almost blinding and Remus couldn't help but smile as well, even if he didn't understand what they were talking about.

"Oh, I've decided to adopt Sirius as my little brother," James' cheerful answer made Remus realise he'd spoken out loud.

"When did that happen?" Bemused, Remus watched as the two shared a smile.

"Just before the Christmas holidays," James was practically vibrating with happiness as he threw an arm around Sirius' shoulders and the other leaned into him for a moment without hesitation.

"Right," shaking his head fondly, Remus smiled. "Congratulations. Should we make our way to the kitchen to pick Peter up before dinner?"

"Would he truly still be stuffing himself with sweets so close to dinner?" Sirius asked, though they automatically began to make their way to the kitchen as the two separated again and James' hand found Sirius' again.

"Do you really need to ask?" Remus laughed. "But either way, do you think you could help me a little after dinner? I don't know about Pete, but I really could use some help with the teacup transformation."

"It would be wise, Peter's mouse is still squeaking despite having the shape of a teacup and yours is still walking around," James chuckled. "But it shouldn't take too long any more before you both get it right."

"I hope so, I also still haven't gotten my mind wrapped around the Potions assignment," Remus sighed and turned to Sirius. "Dad tried to help me with it during the holidays, but Potions has never been his strongest subject and if I am honest then I have to admit that I usually grasp it much easier when you do the explaining. Would you mind helping me out?"

"Not at all. I love it when you finally get something and I know I had a hand in it," Sirius looked down a little embarrassed at the admission.

"That is because you are a born teacher," James beamed. "Maybe it's something to think about to do after graduation?"

"Become a teacher?" a hesitant smile crossed Sirius' lips. "I think I would like that."

"You would be good at it, too," Remus said. "You already get a lot of practice with Peter and me; learning the meaning of patience at the same time."

"You guys aren't so bad, it's a nice challenge," Sirius tried to reassure him, but Remus was well aware that both he and Peter had to have tried his patience at times even if he didn't want to admit it.

"But if James helps Peter with his Transfiguration work, I'll focus on you so that we could have a look at your Potions assignment afterwards."

"It might be easier if you both just work in the Common Room as to not be distracted as I will probably need a whole lot longer with Peter than you'll need with Remus," James sighed.

"Nonsense, we have taken this challenge on together," Sirius said. "I'm sure Peter will get it eventually. I've asked around and learned that the first year Transfiguration exam always consists of transforming a small animal into an object, so we are on the right track."

"And the exams are still months away," James ran a hand through his hair again. "We will need that time, though."

"If it is truly needed, we could always suggest adding a third evening of tutoring to get him up to date before it is too late," Sirius shrugged.

"Let's hope that is not needed," Remus was the one to sigh this time, knowing both he and Peter still had a long way to go. "Can I ask something completely unrelated?"

"Of course," James immediately said.

"Why were you also tackling Sirius if you were increasing your magical core and stamina?"

"Because we also want to learn how to defend ourselves in Muggle ways, so that we can handle ourselves should the need arise," James explained. "Sirius asked Peeves to join us so that he could test and increase our reaction time while also strengthening our stamina."

"But you have magic, why would you need Muggle defence?"

"A wand can be knocked out of your hand and it is not always possible to use magic to defend yourself. Or wandless magic," James added as Remus opened his mouth to point Sirius' ability out.

"It gives us an advantage over other wizards; especially Pure-Bloods," Sirius added. "Wandless magic is not always reliable and if we can fight, even without magic, we will be more capable than most others. Did you know that over ninety percent of the Wizarding population would be utterly defenceless if they are disarmed?"

"That makes sense, most magical humans are completely reliant on their wands," Remus had to admit. "But why are you doing it in secrecy?"

"We're not," James smiled a little apologetic. "We have been testing the best techniques and what does and doesn't work so that when the time comes, we could include you and Peter in our practices if you would be interested."

Remus swallowed, automatically thinking of all the ways he could accidentally hurt them with his strength if he would join. If Sirius couldn't easily break free from James then he didn't stand a chance against Remus himself. But when he thought back to their earlier words and how both were set on becoming involved in the war some day, a wave of fear washed over him at the idea of either of his friends coming across other werewolves, ones not like Remus and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to help them get stronger so that they at least stood a chance.

"I would like to learn, but I am afraid that I might hurt you both as I do know Muggle fighting. Mum made sure I learned some growing up."

"That is why we are learning the basics of different kinds first, so we have a concept of Muggle fighting and can actually hold our own against someone who has grown up around Muggles," Sirius paused, hesitating as he glanced at James. "I also need to learn not to react automatically when someone comes at me at training. I'm still not used entirely to you all and James is the least likely one to be hurt if I react badly to anything that is thrown at me."

"That is actually a very smart idea," Remus admitted. "But if you would like, I could join you next time you practice. Not to participate, but I could tell you about some of the different techniques I have seen in fighting movies. And I can ask Mum to send me a book about martial arts as Grandpa might have one or two."

"Please do," James grinned as Sirius stepped up to tickle the pear. "We got our hands on a few pamphlets through the catalogue in the Shop, but that would be much better."

"Welcome," several squeaky voices greeted them and Remus smiled as a female House-elf darted forward to pull Sirius further into the kitchen with her, faintly recognising her as the one to bring Sirius food before the holidays had started.

"We are not here for food," James tried to protest, but already several small wrapped packages were pushed into his hands.

"What are you guys doing here?" Peter called out from further into the kitchen, a piece of pie in his hands.

"We are here to pick you up for dinner," James rolled his eyes. "Should you be eating all that right before dinner?"

"I didn't have anything on the train, Mum didn't give me any pocket money," Peter complained.

"Probably because she knew you would spend it all on candy," Sirius smiled as the little elf who had pulled him with her handed him a wrapped package. "What is this, Tiffy?"

"Lemon cake Tiffy made herself," she smiled. "Because Siri does nots care for sweets."

"Thank you," Sirius smiled and put the cake into his bag, seemingly not even noticing that the little elf was using the same endearment Peeves and James had. "I'll be sure to try it after dinner."

"You should get cleaned up, you are covered in crumbs. McGonagall isn't going to be happy if you show up for dinner looking like that," James rolled his eyes as Peter squeaked at seeing his own dirty robes and hurried out of the kitchen without another word.

Remus made to follow him but paused as Tiffy tugged on Sirius' sleeve to hand him another wrapped package. "Siri wants more snacks for tonight?"

She completely ignored the packages James was still stuffing into his bag and looked at him intently.

"I think we have more than enough already, but thank you Tiffy," Sirius smiled at her. "I actually wanted to thank you for the lovely package you left me for Christmas, but I haven't managed to catch you since."

"Siri liked it?" Bat-like ears shot up in happiness as the elf's large blue eyes shone up to him.

"I loved it," Sirius smiled. "They are lovely warm and cosy."

"And really soft, too," James laughed. "He's wearing those gloves every day we go outside."

Remus didn't think it was possible for the little elf to beam any wider.

"I do; I hope you all liked your present as well?" Sirius looked over her to the others; who all nodded enthusiastically as they gathered around him.

Remus didn't have a lot of experience with the little creatures, only ever having interacted with them here at Hogwarts. But while they had almost obsessively grovelled to make him and Peter happy on their visits, they seemed to be truly delighted to have Sirius among them as they all enthusiastically spoke up about their presents.

Though Tiffy seemed to have a special position as she was the only one to actually touch Sirius, her small hand firmly entwined in his sleeve as all the elves spoke over each other to personally tell him how much they had liked...

"Cookies?" Remus looked at Sirius incredulously, not really able to image the boy baking.

"Tiffy helped me practice the last few weeks," Sirius knelt down between them; lifting a tiny House-elf into his lap as the little one stumbled trying to get to the front. "Hello Pippy."

The little elf squeaked in excitement at him having remembered her name and happily smiled up to him.

"Rainy is your mother, isn't she?" A House-elf further back shifted nervously for some reason, clearly not pleased to see her child.

"Siri remembered Pippy's Mama," blue eyes widened comically and all the House-elves suddenly tensed as if she had sworn loudly, even James blinked surprised.

"Have you heard me call him that?"

"Peeves did when hes spoke to Tiffy last week," Pippy hesitantly admitted as Sirius smiled reassuring at her.

"Well, my friends do call me that and I would be honoured if you would consider me a friend as well," his words caused a wave of relief to wash over the elves present and little brown eyes beamed.

"Siri is our friend," Tiffy looked at Sirius; something passing between the two that Remus couldn't decipher but made Sirius smile warmly.

"You always have been," he simply stated as he set Pippy onto her own two little feet again as Tiffy returned the smile. "But aren't you a little bit too young to be in the kitchen already?"

"Pippy snucks out," the brown eyes shone in adoration as she looked up to Sirius, clearly attempting to whisper but failing miserably with her squeaky voice. "Moky said Siri's friend came to kitchen and then Pippy heard Siri's voice so Pippy snucks out."

"I always look forward to seeing you, but I am sure your mum would think it safer if you don't come out if I am not alone or with one of these two."

Receiving a fierce nod, the little elf darted away and disappeared in the crowd as Sirius searched the crowd of elves. "I hope I can see her again some time?"

Remus couldn't pick out the elf who had looked uncomfortable before any more from the others, but Sirius clearly did as he smiled and rose to his feet again.

"Siri's Jamsie and friend look hungry," Tiffy noted, turning Sirius' attention back to her.

"They do, don't they? We should get ready for dinner and I would hate for you all to get into trouble for being distracted from your work," Sirius smile grew as the House-elves immediately scrambled apart to let them through. "Thank you for all the food, we will be sure to enjoy it after dinner later tonight."

"Siri and Siri's Jamsie always welcome," Tiffy half hid behind Sirius' leg, uncertainty suddenly in her stance as well as a dare. "As is Siri's Remsie."

Remus flushed as both Sirius and James laughed and the little elf beamed at the response from the two, rising to her full height again as Sirius smiled.

"We will see you all soon enough again," James slipped a hand in Sirius' as they said their final goodbyes and Remus followed them out.

"Why did they all tense like that?"

"They are House-elves, servants," James explained. "Most wizards demand to be referred to as Master or at the very least Sir. Calling their owners by their given name is considered a terrible taboo."

"But we aren't their masters," Remus noted.

"Which is why they refer to us as Sir most of the time or our full names. I've rarely seen a House-elf refer to someone like they do to Sirius."

"I asked Tiffy to call me by name when we first met," Sirius admitted. "I assume she has related it to the other House-elves as they have always referred to me by name."

"All right, so they know they have permission to call you by your given name," Remus wondered if it was a day to just confuse him as he didn't understand why the elves had reacted as they had.

"You're not getting it, are you?" James seemed to realise his confusion. "The little elf gave Sirius a nickname; it is the greatest offence an elf could give to a wizard."

"But...why?"

"Because wizards are a bunch of insane bigoted idiots," Sirius said. "Over the centuries they have given House-elves demeaning names, humiliating them until they actually began to see the names a normal and began to call their own children by silly ones. But if anything other than the full name was used in return, the house-elf in question might very well have been told to kill themselves in punishment."

"They wouldn't," horror washed over Remus at the blank looks he was given in return. "That is horrible!"

"It is, but that is why they all tensed when the little one slipped up. She may only be small, but she could still have been ordered to kill herself if he had protested against the name," James explained. "Young House-elves are kept hidden until they are trained by their parents to behave properly."

"Pippy is still in her training and should, according to the rules, not be seen by humans under any circumstances."

"But you have met her before," Remus pointed out.

"I've seen her when visiting Tiffy, yes. But that doesn't count as I came to their territory on those occasions. They are not supposed to come out unless given specific permission."

"There are some things in the Wizarding world that are truly messed up," Remus grumbled. "It's pure slavery!"

"It is, though I am not really in a position to make any changes for them. All I can do right now is try and make things easier for them in any way I can."

"But Tiffy called your Siri before Pippy did and no one reacted at all when she did," Remus frowned. "What is the difference?"

"They know Tiffy is my friend and probably simply assumed I had given her permission to do so as I never react when she does," Sirius shrugged. "She's been calling me by that nickname almost as long as Peeves and James have," Sirius turned to James. "Do you mind?"

"Why would I? I apparently am your Jamsie and that suits me just fine," James actually grinned, brushing against Sirius. "Even the House-elves can see that we are brothers."

Sirius chuckled and shook his head fondly before turning to Remus. "Do you?"

"Knowing what I do now, I don't. But does that mean you will start calling me that as well?" Remus asked. "Because I am not entirely sure how I'd feel about that."

"I think I would prefer to call you Rem," James teased, coming to a stop as Sirius did, staring out of the window they were passing.

"It's back?" James' question made Remus glance outside as well, but as expected couldn't see anything.

Weeks of hitting the library before the Christmas holidays had wielded no results as they had nothing to go on beyond the invisibility of the animal Sirius had seen at that first flying lesson and drawn for them.

"Hagrid is with it," suddenly Sirius hurried off, James not even hesitating before following and Remus was left with no choice but to run after them as he didn't want to be left behind.

He followed the two as they ran all the way to Hagrid's hut.

"Hello, should yeh all not be getting ready fer dinner?" Hagrid looked up from where he was kneeling beside his pumpkin field.

"Hello, what is that for a creature?" Sirius didn't waste time on pleasantries as he stared intently at Hagrid's left, causing Hagrid to raise an eyebrow.

"It is not usual fer a first year to be able ter see a Thestral."

"Why can't we see it?" James shifted a little uncomfortable as Sirius stepped closer to Hagrid, eyes still on the invisible creature before him.

"On'y those who have seen death can see 'em," Hagrid explained, frowning at something that neither James or Remus could see but as Sirius' gaze rose and he raised his hand before he made a petting gesture after a moment it was clear what had happened.

"Be careful," James warned.

"Thestral's don' hurt a fly," Hagrid scoffed.

"Is he hurt?" Sirius shifted to the side, both hands coming up to pet at what looked like thin air.

"I think one of 'em other creatures in the forest got 'em," smiling Hagrid rose to his feet as well. "He likes yeh."

"I like him as well," Sirius answered. "He is beautiful, what is his name?"

"He don't have one," Hagrid said. "He's part of a whole herd so I didn't name 'em. Not many people think them to be beautiful. They see a Thestral as an Omen of death to come."

Sirius' gaze dropped to the humps of raw meat at Hagrid's feet. "May I feed him?"

"'course," it had been weird to see Sirius pet thin air, but it was much more so to see the meat disappear from his hands, the blood vanishing as well in what appeared to be licks.

"Do yeh want to make a roun'?" Hagrid asked as Sirius laughed and reached out to pet thin air again.

"As in flying?"

Remus expected Sirius to immediately back off considering his last experience with flying, but instead grey eyes turned back to the invisible creature hesitantly before becoming determined.

But before Hagrid could move, both suddenly looked down. "Definitely likes yeh. They don't just get down fer anyone."

It was surreal to watch Sirius climb up on nothing, hovering a little above the ground as he settled before rising as if something with four legs was rising to his feet.

"That's not creepy at all," James muttered at his side, stepping forward when Sirius didn't move any more. "Are you all right up there?"

"Yes," Sirius actually smiled, looking much more at ease on the Thestral than he had been on the broom, though Remus supposed it didn't look half as scary to him since he could actually see what he was sitting on top of.

"Do me a favour, will you?" James eyed him worriedly. "Fly over the lake so that if you should fall, you will land softer than you would on the ground."

"He won't let me fall," the confidence in Sirius' voice felt entirely misplaced when he had only just met the beast he was sitting on now, though Remus surprisingly actually felt a little reassured by the certainty in his tone.

"Humour me," James apparently didn't share his confidence, looking half determined to pull him down before he could get hurt.

"What do you think, gorgeous?" Sirius reached forward to place a hand on what Remus assumed was the creature's head.

A sudden strong wind startled both Remus and James and they instinctively stepped back when it billowed up their robes, blinking when Sirius was suddenly in the air.

"And now I am terrified," James let out a shaky laugh. "How is this better than a broom?"

"No idea," Remus swallowed as Sirius moved past them at incredible speed, taking off towards the lake.

"He's fine," Hagrid tried to reassure them. "Thestral's are beyon' loyal creatures."

"What did you mean, when you said only those who have seen death can see them?" James' words pulled Remus' attention back to the gigantic man beside them.

"Yeh can only see a Thestral when yeh have seen someone die and understood what happened," Hagrid answer made Remus' heart clench and he knew James wasn't feeling much better. "They are invisible ter everyone else."

James swallowed thickly, his eyes never leaving the tiny shape moving through the air above the Lake. "Merlin... he's coming back."

Seeing James was right, they both stepped to Hagrid's side so the creature would have enough space to land, not knowing how large it was.

Sirius let out a delighted laugh as he flew over them once before another strong wind signalled the creature landing. "That was brilliant!"

"That was crazy!" Peter's voice made them all turn around to see the wide-eyed boy hurry towards them. "I saw you from the window, how are you doing that?!"

"I found the creature we were looking for," Sirius looked entirely windswept as he slid off the creature's back and caressed what Remus assumed was its neck. "He is a Thestral."

"Why can't I see it?"

"Only those who have seen death can apparently see it," James stepped forward to take Sirius' hand. "Sirius?"

"One of my grandfather's House-elves, Tuffy, died before my eyes," Sirius answered his unspoken question, an unreadable expression crossing over his features before he smiled at something the Thestral did. "Will he be able to touch you?"

The last seemed to be directed to the Thestral as Sirius smiled before taking James' free hand and raising it with his.

James blinked as his hand apparently met something solid, a hesitant smile crossing his lips as he ran his hand down the creature. "Amazing, though I still don't understand how this wasn't as scary as flying on a broom."

"He is a solid and firm presence. He won't just be broken by a strong breeze and I just knew he wouldn't let me fall," Sirius shrugged. "It's just different."

"So, you don't hate flying after all?" Remus hesitantly stepped forward, smiling a little as Sirius guided his hand to let it rest on something hard yet surprisingly softer than he had imagined from the picture Sirius had drawn before.

"I don't like flying on a broom but I did like flying with him."

"This is so unreal," he whispered as he caressed his hand down what felt like a neck, feeling bones under his fingers that fit perfectly with the almost skeleton frame he was envisioning in his mind. Something soft brushed over the back of his hand as he moved his hand up again, making him tense back. "What is that?"

"His mane," Sirius looked over. "It's long and black, reaching all the way down to your midriff so be careful not to hurt him when you move."

"You all look really weird, petting thin air," Peter bit his lip to not laugh, stepping backwards when Sirius turned to him in clear invitation. "I'm good here...far from the death omen I can't see."

"If yeh liked flying with 'im, yeh will probably like flyin' with a Hippogriff, too," Hagrid ignored Peter's squeak.

"There are Hippogriffs here?" Sirius sounded way too excited for Remus' liking, something James clearly agreed upon as he stepped back.

"Maybe another day? We don't want to be late for dinner, do we?"

"Right," Sirius walked around Remus and reached up both hands to caress what Remus was fairly sure was the creature's head. "Thank you for the ride."

He laughed that same carefree laugh as he had done with Peeves, the shoulder of his robes turning slightly damp, telling Remus the creature had done something to his shoulder before he stepped back.

Giving one last smile and a little wave, Sirius turned around, James quick to fall into step beside him as Peter and Remus followed them back towards the castle.

"You're not really going to ride a Hippogriff, aren't you?" Peter asked.

"I don't know, I might if it would let me," Sirius gave a little hesitant smile.

James slipped a hand in his. "I don't think I have ever been as terrified as I was than when I saw you in the air like that without being able to see what you were flying on."

James waved his apology away before it could come out of his mouth. "You really had fun flying with the Thestral?"

"I did," Sirius' smile grew. "It was brilliant."

"Then I look forward to seeing you fly on a Hippogriff. Maybe we can fly together some day, you with an animal and me on a broom."

"I would like that," Sirius agreed.

"You are both nuts," Peter decided as they paused near the side entrance so they could wash their hands at the fountain there.

"There are worse things we could be," James shrugged.

There was nothing Remus could say to that, though he did share an amused look with Peter as they followed their friends to the Great Hall.


	11. Chapter 11

"Potter! Black!"

Remus saw both of his friends tense as their Head of House called out to them, though James was quick to plaster a charming smile onto his face as they all turned to face her.

"Professor?" McGonagall did not immediately answer as her eyes fell upon James' and Sirius' linked hands and Remus had to swallow back a smile at her distracted gaze before her eyes snapped up to look at James belatedly. "Could we help you with something?"

"Do not attempt to act innocent, Mister Potter. Would you care to explain as to why I have two Slytherins in the hospital wing right now, both of whom are complaining about severe stomach aches after eating something they apparently received from you?" McGonagall's stern gaze made Sirius tense, though he raised an eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed by her tone of voice.

"Why would they ever eat anything we gave them, Professor?" the incredulity in his voice would be hilarious if McGonagall wasn't glaring at him. "That would be the height of stupidity."

"I never claimed they were exceptionally smart," McGonagall brushed him off impatiently. "What did you give them?"

"We didn't give them anything," Sirius protested. "They commandeered them from my possession and ate them all."

"What did they eat?"

"Raw red onions layered in garlic, coated in crystallized vanilla sugar and dipped into chocolate."

McGonagall stared at him for a long moment, clearly unsure if he was being honest with her or pulling her chain. In the end, though, she must have decided he was being honest. "How many?"

"About a dozen, might have been a few more. I didn't really keep count as I was making them," though Sirius' voice was calm, there was a hint of a tremble in it that made James shift closer to him and tighten his hold on the other's hand.

"Are we in trouble?" he asked, shifting McGonagall's attention to him momentarily, disapproval all over her features.

"That depends. Who were they meant for originally?"

"No one, really," Sirius softly answered. "I was experimenting with them, see if I could unpeel and spice the separate layers of the onions without disturbing the texture completely and then return them to their original shape. I only added the chocolate because I thought it would make a nice present for Hagrid after he let me ride a Thestral last week."

Remus fought to keep his expression straight as McGonagall stared at Sirius, trying to find a lie in his words before her voice took on an edge of exasperation as she tried to remain calm.

"Why did you not demand them back or warn them that the onions were raw?"

"Should I warn a thief that the item they took without permission is not exactly edible for regular humans?" Sirius cocked his head to the side. "Am I going to be punished for their greed and theft? If they are having stomach cramps, then they should not have taken another's possessions without permission."

"They are having severe diarrhoea and are throwing up," McGonagall assessed them for a long moment, eyebrow rising as James snorted.

"Serves them right. Why are we being questioned when they are the thieves?"

"I will look into the matter properly, but you should not be carrying such items around in the first place."

"Technically, Professor, they should not have touched his possessions without permission regardless if he was carrying them around or not. I thought we had established bullying was not approved of here at Hogwarts months ago during the Battle against Ravenclaw?"James said. "Stealing is another form of bullying in my eyes and if they did not want to face the consequences, they should not have taken what was not theirs to take."

"They shouldn't have," McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath.

"So why are we in trouble for wanting to do something nice for Hagrid?"

Remus was fairly positive there had been absolutely no motive to be nice involved in these particular actions, but McGonagall seemed to buy it.

"Not this time, although I am quite sure the two of you will find yourself in detention for some kind of odd prank soon enough."

"Is that your way of saying that you hope we will play a prank again soon, Professor?" Mischievousness was oozing out of James' entire being a McGonagall clicked her tongue annoyed.

"I would prefer it if you boys would just focus on your school-work and not disrupt the day in any way," she eyed them with something akin to hopelessness. "But I am beginning to suspect that it is impossible for you to go more than a few days without getting into trouble."

"We do try," the small smile that spread over Sirius' lips seemed to surprise McGonagall tremendously, actually looking startled for once. "But the lure of pranks is too strong for us to ignore indefinitely."

"I was afraid of that," McGonagall sighed. "Well, go on; be on your marauding ways."

"We are not thieves or plunderers," scandalised, James protested.

"It doesn't have to mean that. In the French translation a Marauder is a rascal, a free spirit," Sirius spoke up before McGonagall could. "one not out to make victims or murder anyone, but in search for treasure and things to use. We hunt down laughter and smiles, using what we learn to find our own kind of treasure."

"Like secrets?" the glint appearing in James' eyes made Remus shift, curious as to what the other had planned now.

"If you would like," Sirius nodded. "A Marauder would technically refer to a thief, but it is entirely up to interpretation as to what kind of thief one is as one would find opportunity wherever they go, usually while creating havoc."

Remus wasn't the only one staring at Sirius in old fashioned surprise, even McGonagall seemed to be at a loss for words, though James shook his head fondly.

"The random bits of knowledge you spout at times never cease to amaze me."

"I looked up the name after I overheard Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout referring to us by that title since the Battle of Ravenclaw, as they have taken to calling it," Sirius shrugged. "It might have been that they have been using the name since the Polka Dot Snake operation already, though."

"It was the Loco-Motion that warranted that dub," McGonagall looked horrified to have let that slip as James and Sirius high-fived and Remus could not longer keep in his laughter as he remembered how the whole castle had broken into dancing every few hours.

"You know, I rather like that idea, Marauder...we are Marauders; in search of secrets and opportunities, raining down havoc wherever we go as we pull pranks."

"You certainly create a mess wherever you go," McGonagall cleared her throat. "I have no forgotten that the both of you have a detention awaiting you for your actions against the Slytherins last week."

"We could have made them do the Freddie as well," Sirius shrugged. "We actually took pity after the castle wide Loco-Motion and only targeted the Slytherins. After all, they are the most stuck-up and could use some relaxation."

"In the form of a forced country style Two-Step?" McGonagall raised her eyebrow. "How do you even know those Muggle dances?"

"We have our sources," James answered cryptically, while Remus hoped he didn't look too guilty as he had been the one to tell his friends about popular Muggle dances his mother loved after the Loco-Motion prank. "And it was worth the detention."

Which was completely true, Remus had to admit the look on the Slytherin's faces, especially Snape and Lucius Malfoy had been brilliant as they were forced to quick step every five steps for a full day.

"I quite disagree about that. But coming back to our original subject, I will be having a word with Professor Slughorn about Crabbe and Goyle. But next time someone tries to take something that is not theirs, please warn a teacher."

"And if the teacher fails to handle it swiftly or properly?" Sirius asked.

"Then you come to me and I will handle it," McGonagall promised.

"No offence Professor, but you do not quite handle cases of unfair behaviour properly either," James corrected her. "The Slytherins have been targeting us since the beginning, yet it is always us who get the detention when we retaliate."

"If anyone misbehaves, you should report it immediately," McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "We don't play our own judge and jury."

"Maybe not, but when they repeatedly keep getting off with a slap on the wrist, I prefer being the one given detention if it leaves me with the knowledge they have paid properly for their actions than let them get away with everything just because they are poor little snakes."

"Thinking like that will set you up for detention often," she warned.

"So be it, at least we can sleep better knowing they are dealt with accordingly. And you know what? By the time we will graduate, you will have become so used to our constant company that you will not want to let us go," James cockily grinned.

"I sincerely doubt that, Mister Potter. Now hurry along to your dorm as it is nearing curfew and you should not be out in the halls for much longer."

"We were on our way back when you stopped us, Professor. So if we are late, it would be because of you," James cheekily said, laughingly pulling Sirius along as she bristled. "Good night, Professor."

"Marauders indeed," Remus' enhanced hearing picked up on her muttering as he hurried after his friends and couldn't help but grin.

"So, red onions?" He asked once they were far enough away that there was no chance McGonagall could overhear them anymore.

"Did you see her face when you told her just what they had eaten?" James giggled. "It was brilliant!"

"So you did give it to them on purpose?" Remus tried to fight his own laughter as Sirius shot him a wicked smile.

"I might have known they would take any food I was carrying and would be stupid enough to eat it and therefore have been carrying that specific item."

"I assume you also developed them specifically for them?" Remus asked.

"It was Peeves' idea to feed them raw onions in disguise while James came up with the plan," Sirius nodded.

"It was your idea to wait months before executing it," James shot back. "I was all for immediate payback."

"Payback for what?"

"Targeting me and breaking my ankle when they blew up the wall behind me," Sirius explained.

"That was near the beginning of the year, I thought you had paid them back for that long ago already," incredulous, Remus looked at his two friends.

"That would have been too easy and they would have been expecting it," Sirius laughed. "I wish I could see their faces once they learn what they ate, though."

"We will have to make do with McGonagall's reaction," Remus grinned.

"But on to more important issues, what shall be our next task as Marauders?" James slung an arm around Sirius' shoulders.

"You're actually taking what I said seriously?" Sirius asked, slipping an arm around his back in return.

"I like it, don't you? A Marauder; seeker of Hogwarts' secrets and hidden passages, creating chaos as he goes. A free spirit and rascal through and through," James preached. "It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"It does," Sirius admitted. "So you want to sign your work with Marauder?"

"Our work," James corrected. "You were the one who overheard the Professors calling us that. The four of us; you, me, Remus and Peter, we are the Marauders."

"It has a nice ring to it and taking into account the definition that you mentioned, it would be fitting," Remus agreed.

"All right then, from this moment forward, we will make sure we are known as the Marauders," Sirius' words made James cheer and they immediately began plotting their next prank as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.


	12. Chapter 12

"Shhhh, it's all right, you are safe. Just focus on your breathing, in and out….in and out."

Remus became aware of Sirius' familiar voice as he managed to take several deep gulps of air, grateful to feel his lungs expand after panicking because he couldn't draw a breath.

He could feel his sweaty nightshirt stick to his back and winced as he felt the coolness of Sirius' pyjama shirt, knowing his face had to be sweaty as well, but couldn't bring himself to shift away.

Inhaling deeply to catch the familiar scent of old parchment, the forest and more recently the smell of paint that always seemed to linger on Sirius now, he used it to help calm his racing heart further down. The scent was as comforting as it always was and he felt himself relax.

"Why are you always doing this?"

"Is that not what friends do? Help one another when upset or scared?" Sirius softly rubbed his back, uncaring of the sweaty shirt.

"Yeah," Remus swallowed.

"Would you like a hug?"

"What?" Choking on a laugh at the blunt question, Remus forced himself to pull back so that he could look up to Sirius.

"Would you like a hug?" the handsome dark-haired boy smiled so warmly that Remus could feel the last of his tension disappear. "I've learned that hugs are really helpful when one is upset or has had a nightmare."

"James taught you that?" He couldn't help but smile as Sirius nodded.

"He stayed with me after I had a nightmare before Christmas and embraced me. It was really helpful and since I noticed that it helps calm you down when I let you lean against me like this, I could give you a hug instead?"

Remus hadn't quite realised he had made it a habit to lean against Sirius when they met like this, but as his friend was still resting a hand on his shoulder he figured he didn't really mind.

"You don't have to," Remus felt the need to say, aware that James was not always very clear in his explanations and Sirius might feel obligated to offer.

"I wouldn't offer it if I didn't want to do so," he could almost feel Sirius roll his eyes and bit back a smile. "James already gave the whole 'don't do this with anyone you are not comfortable with and no means no' speech. You don't mind sitting like this, which I think counts as a semi-hug anyway, so would you like a proper one as I don't believe I would be uncomfortable giving you one?"

"I would like a hug very much," smiling as arms wrapped around his neck a little awkwardly, Remus simply leaned forward and loosely wrapped his own arms around Sirius' thin waist in return.

"I am not made of glass, you know?"

Tightening his hold a little at the breathy laughter, Remus rested his forehead against Sirius' shoulder and let the slow steadiness of the other's heartbeat take away the last of his tension.

"Do you want to talk about it, or would you prefer if I just stayed with you in silence?" Sirius asked after several long moments had passed.

"No..I...wait, stay with me?" Confused, Remus pulled back so that he could look at his friend properly.

"Yes," Sirius simply nodded, cocking his head to the side as if he didn't follow what Remus couldn't understand about his proposal but Remus could only stare at him, not sure how someone so bloody brilliant could also be so utterly adorable and almost naive and for a moment he wasn't sure what to do.

If he was selfish, he had to admit that Sirius' presence always helped calm him down enough to fall back asleep again and the idea of having his friend close was tempting.

But he also felt that the other probably wasn't truly aware of just what he was offering and that conflicted him as he never wanted to take advantage of his friend in any way.

"You are offering to stay with me," he repeated.

"I always stay with you after you have had a nightmare, at least until you have fallen back to sleep," Sirius' confusion grew. "It is just a question whether you want me to remain quiet or not while I do so."

"Oh," realising that was completely true, a mixture of disappointment and relief washed over Remus that Sirius had not at all meant what he thought he had.

"Yes, it would be a comfort," he admitted, squashing down both feelings to simply be happy his friend was near.

Sirius raised his hand as Remus shifted and a whisper later the sheets and his nightclothes were both crispy clean and fresh again, like they had been freshly changed and he breathed out relieved as he laid back down.

Holding out a hand for Sirius to take, he frowned as he felt how icily cold it was and now that the nightmare had faded from his mind, he could feel the coolness in the air. Despite the cold months steadily being left behind, there was still a chill in the air and he immediately felt guilty as he knew how easily Sirius got cold.

"Oh sod it, come in here so that I can warm you up," putting his own insecurities about taking advantage aside, Remus tugged on his hand, surprised as Sirius resisted.

"No, I'm good."

Remus didn't miss how Sirius tensed at his words, unsure of what he had done wrong to warrant such a strong response, but didn't want to push him so simply nodded, loosening his grip though he didn't pull back completely. He hoped it would let Sirius know he wasn't going to force him to do something he clearly didn't want to.

"Take this, though," reaching over to grab the plaid James had dropped beside each bed the evening before, he awkwardly tried to pull it around Sirius before the dark-haired boy reached out to pull it around himself properly. "I don't want you to get a cold."

Seeing Sirius relax again, he knew he had made the right decision not to push and ensured the plaid was around him properly before laying back down again.

"Thank you, for staying with me," he murmured softly when Sirius blew out the candle, leaving them in darkness.

"You are welcome," Sirius paused. "Since you are still wide awake, can I ask you a question?"

"Any time," shifting so that he could look at his friend, the darkness not as dark for him as to most, Remus squeezed the other's hand.

"Why did you hesitate to say yes when you clearly wanted the comfort?"

"I...because I didn't want to take advantage of you," Remus admitted softly. "You haven't had much experience with personal contact and I am afraid of doing something that might make you uncomfortable."

"Do you not think I would let you know if I don't want something?" The simple curiosity in his voice made Remus sigh and he sat back up, turning on the small oil lamp so they could see each other.

"Normally, yes. But James is your main source of learning and his methods are a bit warped so you might not always completely understand his specific actions and think them normal. The way he interacts with you..." Remus hesitated.

"Is very different from how most people interact," a huff of a laugh left Sirius as he no doubt sensed Remus' surprise. "I am not stupid, Rem."

"So you do know that his interactions with you are not entirely normal?"

"Of course I do. If anyone other than James tried to interact with me the way he does, I would have kicked them in the groin a long time ago before hexing them," Sirius snorted.

"Then why do you let him do so? You know you are allowed to say no to something, right?" It was the only thing that had always bothered Remus about their interactions, never being quite sure Sirius was fully comfortable with James' tactile behaviour or only let him do what he wanted because he didn't want to upset him.

"Because his tactile nature is not something that bothers me. I draw comfort from his closeness and touches even if I don't always know how to respond to them," Sirius shifted. "It makes me happy that he interacts with me the way he does and I really couldn't care less if it is considered proper or not as long as we are both comfortable with it, which we are."

"He calls you his brother," Remus softly pointed out, not entirely sure if Sirius was feeling the same way towards James as their friend was towards him and he would hate for Sirius to get his heart broken because of misunderstood actions.

"He does," Sirius swallowed. "I don't come from a very loving home, I'm sure you have already noticed that."

Sensing he had to remain quiet, Remus only nodded and was rewarded as Sirius continued after a long moment.

"I grew up very sheltered and lonely. James...," a small smile crossed over Sirius' lips. "He makes me feel like I can actually do this friendship thing and not have to fear losing it all again because I mess up."

"You won't," Remus tried to reassure him. "We are here to stay."

"In my heart, I am beginning to learn that. But my mind is not as easily convinced," Sirius glanced at the bed occupying the subject of their conversation. "James makes me feel comfortable and accepted."

Remus wanted nothing more than to tell his friend that he was accepted by all of them, but there was something in Sirius' tone of voice that told Remus that was not what he truly meant.

"I feel like there is nothing that can hurt me as long as he's at my side, holding onto me."

"James makes you feel safe," Remus breathed out, beginning to understand what Sirius meant and feeling reassured by it. "Like a brother would."

"Yes," Sirius' gaze returned from James' sleeping form to look down at their hands. "Does that bother you?"

"No," Remus admitted honestly. "You have had a special connection since the moment you met, I've always known that. I'm just happy he makes you feel that way, that you found that in him."

"Can I ask you something in return as well?" Remus asked before he could lose his nerve again.

"That would only be fair."

"Why did you tense, when I told you to get into bed with me so you wouldn't be cold? Did you think I would hurt you?"

"No, I know you wouldn't hurt me," there was hesitation in his voice. "I feel comfortable with you as well, but..."

"Not that comfortable," Remus finished for him.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not," squeezing his hand, Remus smiled.

"You are not mad at me?"

"Why would I be?" Remus frowned as Sirius looked down at their hands once more, a gesture he had long since learned meant the other wasn't sure he should speak his mind or not.

"Because I do sleep with James at times, but don't want to do so with you."

"What did I tell you about doing things you are not fully comfortable with?"

"That I shouldn't," Sirius softly answered. "But isn't it a little warped that I say yes to James, but no to you? You are my friend as well."

"And I am still your friend even though you say no to some things," Remus sighed. "I told you before to never do anything you are uncomfortable with and never to let anyone force you either. If you are not comfortable sleeping beside me, then that is something I should respect."

"But..."

"No buts," Remus cut him off. "If you are not comfortable with something, you tell me no and that's it. I don't ever want to do anything that might make you uncomfortable but you will need to tell me or I won't always realise."

"And if I one day change my mind and decide I am comfortable with it?"

"Then you change your mind, but no means no regardless of what you might do with others," Remus was fairly sure he was coming over a little forcefully, but he couldn't press that into his friend enough. "Understood?"

"Yes," Sirius cleared his throat as he shifted in his seat. "I understand. Just because I am comfortable doing something with one person does not automatically mean I am comfortable doing the same thing with someone else and they have to respect that or I am to hex them."

"And kick them in the groin," Remus added for good measure, smiling as Sirius squeezed his hand in agreement. "I'm surprised we didn't wake James up."

"You did wake me up, but I didn't feel like it was right to interrupt," James' soft voice drifted over. "Well spoken, by the way."

"I...thank you," flushing as he could just make out intensive brown eyes looking at him gratefully, Remus nodded slowly.

"You should listen to him," James called out to Sirius. "You might be like an encyclopaedia, but Remus is full of useful knowledge, too."

"Jeez, thanks," Remus rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I didn't mean to wake you, though."

"It happens," James shrugged, stretching a little. "You didn't cast a Silencing Charm before you had your midnight conversation."

"You know the Silencing Charm?"

"Really? You are still surprised by the things we know?" James teased.

"You would think I am used by now to you two defying all logic," snorting at his own surprise, Remus let himself fall back onto his bed, smiling up to Sirius.

"Not all logic, we are just a little more advanced than the average first year because we have little trouble understanding magic," he shrugged.

"I'd dare say you are the best students of our year, without even trying. Even History of Magic doesn't slow you down," Remus remembered being unable to stay awake in that class until he had noticed his two friends were calmly working on other school work and they had advised him to just tune Professor Binns out and read the book later.

Their advice both allowed him to stay awake during the class and make some progress in his other subjects at the same time.

"I still can't believe they haven't gotten rid of Binns years ago, the man is utterly useless as not even the Ravenclaws can stay awake in his class. I've learned more from the House-elves than I have from Binns so far and that is not even including the history lessons Peeves shares."

"I am sure Professor Dumbledore has his reasons for allowing Binns to teach," smiling as Sirius scoffed unconvinced.

The longer the dark-haired Black heir hung around them, the more Remus began to see their own behaviour influencing him, even beyond his speech pattern. He had become more animated over the months, surer of his place in their little group, delighting James with the prank ideas he brought forth.

"But we should get some sleep or we won't get any sleep at all any more," James yawned from his bed and nodding, Remus squeezed Sirius' hand.

"You should return to bed."

"Are you sure? I don't mind sitting here," Sirius' grey eyes seemed to be glowing in the soft light of the oil lamp, concern written in them.

"I'm sure, thank you," he smiled to show it truly was, it growing when it was returned and Sirius rose to his feet.

"Any time. And just so you know, if you ever do want to talk, about anything at all, I am here, all right? I am not going anywhere either."

Swallowing thickly, Remus nodded and tightened his hold briefly to let his friend know he had heard him before letting go.

Making himself comfortable after blowing out the light, he listened as James turned around in bed and Sirius slipped almost soundlessly into bed.

"Night," both dark-haired boys called out in unison, making him smile despite the heavy feeling settling in his stomach.

"Night," he managed to bring out as Sirius' words rang through his mind.

But he didn't think he could ever tell his friend just what his nightmares were about, not without losing this amazing friendship that was growing between them.

After all, how could he ever tell Sirius that he was terrified that he would either attack one of his friends one day or they would shun him once they discovered what he truly was, and that both scenarios where what fuelled his nightmares?

He forcefully pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, as far as they would go as he shifted to get more comfortable and managed to drift back to sleep by thinking of his friends' friendship; their mental presence keeping his darker thoughts at bay for now.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Only one chapter left after this, so I just wanted to thank everyone for their lovely reviews and support

Special thanks to Starrya47 for this idea, hope it is as you had imagined!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you quite sure this is a good idea?" Peter squeaked as softly as he could, looking around worriedly despite the fact that the hallways were deserted around them.

"Honestly, don't be such a spoilsport," James groaned, tugging on Sirius' left arm to get his attention. "They can't do anything to us."

"I don't think we share your deeply rooted belief quite as firmly," Remus muttered, watching as Sirius glanced up from the book in his lap to direct their path towards where James pointed, picking up a little speed as the current snail's pace clearly did not sit well with him.

"You are both being silly, why are you so worried?" James shook his head fondly as he brushed against Sirius' side.

"We could break our necks," Peter managed to bring out, his strong grip on Remus' arm becoming fairly uncomfortable, but he didn't try to dislodge him.

"We are floating less than half a meter above the ground, it is very unlikely we will get hurt even if we should fall as we are going slow enough that a snail could keep up. How is this more dangerous than being on a broom?" Sirius turned to him incredulously, making Peter carefully look over the edge.

"Oh, but we could still get into a lot of trouble for this," Peter flushed and his tight grip disappeared as he sat back on his knees.

"When are we not in trouble?" Sirius turned a page in his book.

"We could technically lose a lot of points over this," Remus said even though he knew the loss of points had never deterred his two dark-haired friends before.

"Points that we will earn back in absolutely no time," James confidently assured them.

"Easy for you to say, we don't earn points half as easily as the two of you do," Peter complained, eyes widening suddenly. "Oh cruds."

Swallowing thickly as Remus saw McGonagall and Flitwick cross the corner they were heading to, he tensed as both teachers caught sight of them.

It would have probably been quite funny to see McGonagall's thin face shift between disbelief and shock before settling on anger as she strode over, her long strides making Flitwick having to hurry to keep up, if it hadn't been directed at them.

"What in Merlin's name do the four of you think you are doing?!"

"Taking a tour around the castle, Professor," James flashed her a charming smile as he leaned back, bumping into Sirius' shoulder lightly.

"After hours when you should be in bed?" McGonagall hissed. "Detention, all four of you. Being out of bed after curfew..."

"With all due respect, Professor, we are not out of bed," Sirius interrupted her softly as he patted the mattress they were sitting on. "We took our beds out of the tower."

McGonagall stared at the mattress for a long moment, taking in what the four were travelling on and her eyes widened slightly, her mouth almost dropping before it set into a firm line.

"Nonetheless, you are out after curfew."

"Yes," James confirmed. "But there is no actual rule against that, is there?"

"No, rule number two says students aren't allowed to leave their dorm after curfew and rule twenty seven and two hundred and eighty specifically state that students are not allowed to wander the hallways after curfew or to step foot outside of it without an emergency occurring."

McGonagall looked momentarily taken aback that Sirius seemed to know the rules so well but frowned as he finished.

"And you are not wandering the hallways right now, as is clearly stated to be against the rules."

"No, we are floating through them so we are not on foot," James cheekily told her.

"And wandering would indicate we are roaming without a purpose, which is not true as we are quite aware of where we are going," Sirius tapped the book on his lap. "The rules are quite clear, Professor. I studied them intensively to be sure I knew them all well."

"And yet you keep on breaking them," McGonagall bristled, though Remus couldn't help but admire his friends' nerves and tried to control his own racing heart while Peter twitched nervously from behind James.

"I do believe young Sirius is quite right," Flitwick spoke up, looking more amused than anything else by their antics. "Unless you can determine to whom the mattress they are sitting on belongs to, they are technically not out of bed."

"We actually bound all four mattresses together," James piped up, patting the soft lining of the top mattress and Remus bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as both Flitwick and McGonagall looked down at the mattresses more closely.

"That is quite ingenious," Flitwick whistled impressed. "Even if we had a way to determine who the mattress belongs to, none of the other three can be accused of being out of bed either since all of them are here."

"Filius!" McGonagall exclaimed as the petite professor leaned in to inspect Sirius' handiwork properly.

"You must admit that they thought this plan through," Flitwick said. "And they are right about the rules. They are quite specifically written."

"I'm sure there is something..."

"You are free to check, Professor," Sirius held out his book. "I happen to have the rule book here with me."

Accepting the book with a raised eyebrow, McGonagall eyed it warily before beginning to page through it at a speed Remus didn't think he would ever be able to match.

"While she is verifying your story, I must admit that I am quite curious as to where the journey is going if you are not wandering around like you said."

"We are on our way to the kitchen for a bite to eat as both Remus and Peter missed dinner," Sirius explained. "I am aware that we could have waited for one of the House-elves to arrive for their cleaning duties to request something to eat, but the rumbling in their stomach kept both James and me awake so we decided to do something about it ourselves and not bother the elves."

"And why exactly have you missed dinner?" McGonagall bristled, eyes flashing over the pages.

"Peter had detention with Slughorn..."

" _Professor_ Slughorn," McGonagall corrected James.

"Professor Slughorn. Anyway, Peter had detention and Remus arrived back from visiting his sick mother too late for dinner," James pulled out what Sirius had begun to refer as his bambi eyes. "So you see; we could not just let them starve, now could we?"

Both teachers glanced at Remus at the mentioning of having been absent, knowing why even if his friends had no idea of the truth and momentarily felt guilty at lying to them. It was his hunger that had gotten them into trouble now.

"But that is not really important," Sirius changed the subject. "If I am right, then we are not breaking any rules and therefore can't be punished, right Professor?"

"If you are not breaking any rules then that would indeed be the case," a small smile crossed over Flitwick's lips as he looked up to Sirius. "If you did not get into trouble as often as you do, I would have thought you belong in Ravenclaw."

"The Hat did consider it, but he settled on Gryffindor in the end," Sirius look thoughtful. "I'm quite happy where I am."

"I can see that. May I ask as to how you got the mattresses to fly like this?" Flitwick asked curiously.

"Sirius used the charms the Ollerton brothers mention in Quidditch Through the Ages as using for their earliest racing brooms. We weren't going for speed so that wasn't as important as balance and stability," James explained.

"You used O.W.L Charms to charm these mattresses?" McGonagall's eyes shot up at James' words. "How...you..."

"As I mentioned before, I have noticed tremendous talent in your Charms work," Flitwick praised Sirius. "If you would like, I could give both you and James some extra work to keep you challenged as it is fairly clear that the only reason either of you pays any attention in class is because you are helping your friends."

"There is not much time left in this term for extra work, is there?" James asked.

"There is no time limit on the offer," Flitwick assured them. "Why do the two of you not come by my office after the summer holidays and we will see what I can do for you?"

"That would be much appreciated," Sirius startled and automatically tensed back against James as McGonagall slammed the book shut and dropped it onto the mattress.

"I assume you didn't find anything, Minerva?" Flitwick's amusement was unmistakable.

"No, it appears that Mister Black is quite right in that the rules are entirely direct and clear," her eyes narrowed as James grinned. "But that does not mean the rules cannot be changed or some added to prevent such actions from reoccurring."

"True," Sirius mused. "But new rules have to be approved of by the board before they can come into play and therefore any change to the current ones would not apply now."

"That is true, but what is to stop me from knocking you off the mattress and onto the ground? Then you would be out of bed after curfew," McGonagall challenged, though Remus was utterly surprised to find a tiny smile spread over her lips as Sirius' charm seemed to do its work to mellow her out a little.

"Common decency, I would like to think," James grumbled.

"Rule two hundred and ninety-three specifically states that the physical punishment of students is absolutely forbidden since nineteen twenty-one, as is transforming them as punishment or taking their personal possessions as stated in rules two hundred and eighty-seven and one hundred and twelve."

"Did you truly learn all the rules by heart?" Flitwick laughed.

"It was interesting to read the rules and regulations. There are quite a few double and even extremely outdated ones in here," Sirius hesitated. "Would you happen to know what brought forth the rule of cats, toads and owls are the _only_ pets allowed on Hogwarts grounds? Like, what other kind of animals were brought here that such a specific rule was set up? The dating of the rule is the early forties of this century so I am half suspecting it was set up with Hagrid in mind as he would have been a student here then and his love for dangerous animals is well known."

"You are quite right, the rule was brought into existence after Hagrid brought a nest of illegally bred animals onto the terrain and they wrecked havoc in the school for a full week before we managed to catch and relocate them."

"Why am I not surprised?" James rolled his eyes. "We've got to get Hagrid to tell us the full story the next time we see him."

"We will," Sirius promised. "But for now, if we are not in any trouble we should continue on our way. I can hear two stomachs rumbling behind me and I am not above a bite to eat myself, either."

"As much as it pains me to admit it, you are not in any trouble. Though I strongly advise you to not do something like this ever again," McGonagall sighed.

"Yes, Madam," James and Sirius chorused in unison.

"I shall accompany you to the kitchen and back to your dorm again, so you will not get into another discussion should you come across someone else," Flitwick decided.

"Might be quicker if you join us on here."

Remus could only stare in disbelief as Flitwick didn't even hesitate before taking Sirius' invitation and levitating himself onto the flying mattress.

All three of them waved at McGonagall as they passed her, leaving a dumbfounded Head of House behind at Flitwick as the picture of utter peace and enjoyment as he sat beside James, happily chatting with him and Sirius as the latter continued their way.

Sharing an incredulous look with Peter, Remus sat back in pure awe of his two amazing friends and knew that no matter if the rules changed after this; no one would ever be able to take this well executed prank from them.

Marauders indeed, he snorted as they eventually found their way back to their dorm and said their good nights to Professor Flitwick.


	14. Chapter 14

Because I'll be going to Star Wars: The Last Jedi tomorrow, you're getting the last chapter a day early. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"James?"

Groggily James forced his eyes to open at the sound of Sirius' soft voice.

"Did I fall asleep?" he quietly asked when he noticed the Common Room was completely empty.

"I didn't want to wake you, but if you sleep here all night you won't be rested for the train ride back tomorrow."

Groaning as he straightened in the chair he had fallen asleep in, James stretched. "I picked this chair specifically to stay awake, but I just remain tired."

"You have been working exceptionally hard on expending and strengthening your magical core," Sirius noted. "That is exhausting work."

"Then why aren't you falling asleep where you go?"

"I have been training for years under my grandfather," Sirius' smile turned apologetic. "So I am fairly used to it, though I have been rather tired since we began our own training."

"Why didn't you wake me earlier so you could go to bed?"

Frowning as Sirius looked down at his hands, James reached out to take them in his. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing specific," the hesitation was clearly audible in his voice so James waited patiently, having learned by now that it was sometimes wiser to just wait for Sirius to gather his thoughts than to try and make him talk immediately.

"Do you think we will still be friends after the summer holidays?"

"Of course we will be," James' eyes narrowed. "Why would we not be?"

"Our relatives won't be happy about our friendship, what if your parents tell you to break it off?"

"They won't. I have been writing to them plenty about you and they never once said anything. And even if they would not agree, you are my friend."

"You would go against your parents?" Light grey eyes looked up to him worried and even more unsure.

"I would when they are speaking nonsense," James squeezed his hands. "What about you? Would you just accept their decision?"

"I am always breaking their orders," Sirius shrugged. "It is not me I am worried about."

There was something in his words that troubled James, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"We are friends and no one can change anything about that," pulling Sirius into his side, he wrapped an arm around him. "What's suddenly gotten into your mind to make you doubt this?"

"The holidays start tomorrow and I doubt I will be able to remain in contact," Sirius shifted into his half embrace readily.

"You really think we won't be friends any more just if we don't see each other for a while?" there was something heartbreaking in the small shrug he felt against his side. "It's going to be weird, not seeing each other for several weeks. But maybe I can try and get Mum and Dad to let you come over for a bit of it."

"I doubt either of our relatives will agree to that," Sirius murmured as he leaned more fully into the embrace.

"We can still try," James decided, tightening his hold for a moment. "We should go to bed properly, though. Do you want to stay with me tonight?"

"But I didn't have a nightmare or got injured," Sirius looked up to him confused, making James' heart clench.

"You know you are always welcome to crawl in beside me if you want to, right? You don't need to have a reason for it."

"Even when the others are here?"

"You never need a reason," he promised Sirius easily, pulling him up to the dorm with him so they could quickly get ready for bed. And once they were settled, James smiled as Sirius curled up against him. "You are my brother, nothing is going to change that."

"And you are mine," Sirius replied softly. "Sorry that I am acting so weirdly tonight."

"That's all right, I'm going to miss you, too," James dropped a kiss into his hair. "But the new term will begin before we've even realised."

"I'll hold you onto that," Sirius murmured sleepily. "Night."

Humming a reply under his breath, James was quick to follow him to sleep.

They were still curled up together when Remus woke up in the morning, scratching the back of his head fondly as they were deeply asleep and he regretted having to wake them.

But he would have to if they didn't want to miss the train and with some grumbling and last minute rushing, even Peter was ready.

"Do you have any threes?"

"Go fish," Sirius laughed hours later as James groaned, picking up another card from the pile.

"Hey, I bought a three!"

"You're not supposed to tell us unless you have all four of them," Peter shook his head fondly. "But since you said so, got any threes?"

"It's not your turn!" James protested, pulling his cards closer to his chest as if to protect them and making them all laugh.

"Was worth a try," Peter pouted as Sirius snickered.

"Sorry Peter. Rem, do you have any fives?"

"I do," handing over his last cards, he smiled as Sirius whooped and placed his set on the bench beside him, a considerate pile already present there.

"And since James has at least two threes and only three cards, I am going for Peter for the sevens."

"Awww," pouting Peter handed over two cards and Sirius smiled as he turned to James. "And the last seven from you, please?"

"Since you are out of cards...Pete?" A wicked smile appeared on James' face. "Your three's, please."

"Why were we playing this again?" Peter handed over his last card and James cheerfully placed them down onto his own pile.

"Because we were too far into the journey to start a game of Ludo, Stratego is no fun with those two strategists unless they're playing against each other, which can take hours and Sirius refuses to play Shitface."

"I don't like bullying, so why would I want to do so in a card game?" Sirius frowned.

"Because it is fun and played all around the world?" Remus laughed. "I used to play it with passing backpackers at the community centre Mum liked to go to sometimes. They were the ones who taught it to me in the first place."

"I fail to see the humour in it," James' grumble made Remus snicker as he remembered the few attempts they'd made; James had ended up with a hand of cards bigger than he could hold properly while Sirius had just refused to play all together.

"Humour aside, we should get ready," Sirius rose to his feet. "The train is slowing down so we're almost there."

"Think your parents will freak out when you arrive without a trunk?" James teased as Remus tucked the deck of cards into his pocket.

"Mum might, but Dad will probably realise it's shrunken. I am curious to how I'll explain that to them, though. First years should not know that spell yet."

"Just tell them you are friends with two insane students who work far in advance," Peter advised him. "It is what I will tell Mum when she has to unshrink mine."

"You make sure to practice during summer so you can shrink it on your own when we meet up again for next year," James ordered, turning to Sirius. "You will try to write, right?"

"Yes. I know I am expected at my grandfather's house for some of the summer and I will have no trouble writing then," Sirius gave a small hesitant smile. "You will see Medea appear the moment I get the chance to write."

"I'll await her visit then," James smiled. "You two will write as well, won't you?"

"I can use Dad's owl now and then," Remus confirmed. "And I will look up some nice books that the two of you might like over the summer and bring them with me after the holidays."

"Thank you," Sirius smiled, smoothing down his dark robes as the train signalled their near arrival.

"Hey, do you think we can all meet up in Diagon Alley to get our new school supplies?" James suddenly asked. "We will need to collect those and could try to meet up then."

"I think I might be able to talk Uncle Alphard into taking me," a calculated look crossed Sirius' thoughtful features. "I will ask him when I see him this summer at the annual family meeting."

"Nice, Remus, Pete?"

"I don't think it will be a problem, Mum loves Diagon Alley," Remus was fairly sure his parents would be overjoyed by the fact that he had friends and be ready to do nearly everything to get him there to meet up.

"No problem for me, Mum's always saying I should get out more anyway and not spend all day before the television," Peter confirmed his presence. "Just let me know when and I'll be there."

"I will," pulling Sirius into a hug, James held him for a long moment, something dark crossing his expression for a moment before he pulled back with a smile again. "You'll be all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sirius cocked his head to the side as he turned so that Remus could pull him into an embrace as well, automatically answering it.

"Just be careful, all of you and we'll see each other again in no time," James smiled disarmingly, but Remus hadn't forgotten the look on his face yet, pondering what it might mean as he let go of Sirius again so the other could give Peter a quick hug as well, Peter awkwardly patting his back before stepping back again relieved.

"I think I can see your parents, Rem," Sirius noted as they made their way to the door, not held back by luggage like some of the others were and his hand firmly in James'.

"I'd say you've seen the photo he brought of them too often," Peter laughed. "Or maybe we all did as I easily recognise them as well."

"You're all just jealous because I have such an amazing set of parents," Remus teased, waving as his parents noticed him.

"I don't know, mine are pretty amazing as well," James hummed as he jumped off the train, half turning to pull Sirius down after him.

"Hey Mum, Dad," running up so that he could embrace his parents, Remus pulled back again after a long moment with a grin to look them over.

"It is good to see you again. You look well," his mother smiled, gaze travelling over the others curiously.

"Mum, Dad, this are Sirius, James and Peter," he proudly introduced his friends to his parents, heart racing as he hoped they would like them. He had told his parents a lot about them during the Christmas holidays and through his letters, but they had not actually seen each other yet.

"It is lovely to meet you all, we've heard a lot about you," his mother smiled. "I am Hope and this is my husband Lyall."

"Nice to meet you," the three chorused as they shook hands and Remus blinked as a small frown momentarily crossed his mothers expression as she shook Sirius' hand last and looked him over, but it disappeared behind a smile almost immediately again as she looked at all three of them. "Remus told us all about you three."

"Nothing bad, I hope?" James grinned charmingly, wrapping an arm around Sirius' shoulder lazily, making the other leaned into his embrace.

"He certainly described you as troublemakers," Remus' father laughed but Remus' missed James' reaction as he caught sight of a darkly clad man with very long black hair walking up to them.

The man was clearly a Black, in possession of the aristocratic good looks that ran in that family, an arrogant expression on his face as he neared.

But the stoic expression faltered slightly and dark grey eyes widened slightly as Sirius laughed at James' answer, pure surprise momentarily flashing over the man's arrogant features before it softened just the tiniest bit as his eyes remained on Sirius.

"Sirius," he didn't really want to call his friend's attention and break the relaxed atmosphere, but rather had he warned him his parent was present than have his friend find out the hard way.

"Uncle Alphard?" Sirius noticed the man as well and seemed surprised to see him, though pleased as he bowed his head slightly in greeting and his previously amused expression shifted into something neutral. "Were you tasked with picking me up?"

"I volunteered to come pick you up today after the eventful year you have had," the man's gaze fleetingly travelled over the others before resettling on Sirius, giving Remus the impression the man was not all that impressed by them. "I thought that might be wiser."

Sirius' expression tightened slightly, though Remus was more surprised his parents weren't excited to see their son after having been gone for most of the year. But then he was also fairly sure they would much prefer to yell at their son after he had managed to evade them for the entirety of the school year, having gotten himself detention just before Christmas that had forced him to remain at Hogwarts for the holidays.

"It might have been," Sirius acknowledged.

"Are this your acquaintances?" His uncle asked, at least trying to show an interest.

"This are my friends. James, Remus and Peter," Sirius introduced them and though they all nodded, none of them made any move to shake his hand and Remus' dad moved slightly before his mum as if to shield her from view. "Guys, this is my Uncle Alphard."

The man's eyebrow rose slightly as Sirius referred to them as friends, though he gave no other reaction. "A pleasure, but we should go before your parents become upset that we are taking too long."

"Yes, sir," Sirius made to follow but then suddenly paused. "Oh, Uncle Alphard?"

"Yes?" the man half turned back.

"I was wondering if you might be willing to escort me to Diagon Alley at the end of summer, so that I might be able to meet up with my friends there after we have received our supply letter."

The man's eyes were cold as they travelled over them once more, but once more softened considerably as they found Sirius once more. "Of course. Perhaps you would like to spend a few days at my house at the end of summer after your Heir trainings are finished so that I can also drop you off at the train on the first of September again."

"That would be nice," the man was clearly taken off guard once more when Sirius gave a small smile, making Remus wonder just how little Sirius smiled at home for even the tiniest one to be such a surreal thing to his own uncle.

The knowledge of a fairly unloving family life settled back into the depth of Remus' mind once more, but he refused to dwell on it as James suddenly stepped forward to pull Sirius into an embrace again.

Sirius returned the impromptu embrace while Sirius' uncle seemed to stare, shock breaking through his entire stoic posture at the casual contact between the two for a split second, though he gave no sign of a further reaction when the two broke apart again.

"Then we will see you in Diagon Alley, I'll send an owl once the letters have arrived to set up an exact meeting," James patted Sirius' shoulder.

"All right," returning the smile, Sirius turned to Remus and Peter. "I guess I will see you guys there."

"Yeah," Remus was not quite daring enough to dart forward to pull him into another goodbye hug under his uncle's cold watchful eye and settled on smiling. "We'll see you soon."

"It was nice to meet you," Sirius gave a small bow to Remus' parents.

"The pleasure was ours," Remus' mum smiled at him warmly. "I look forward to meeting you again in Diagon Alley this summer. Perhaps we will be able to have a conversations about the books Remus keeps requesting off us."

"That would be nice," Sirius almost shyly answered.

"Where is your trunk?" Sirius' uncle's words seemed to make Remus' parents realise they were missing as well.

"In my pocket, we shrunk them to prevent having to carry them around."

"You shrunk your trunk?"

"Is that difficult?" Remus' mum asked curiously as both Sirius' uncle and Remus' father stared at him.

"Not really. It is a second year level charm but fairly easy. We had it down quite quickly and no worries, Remus knows the counter-charm as well so he can unshrink it once he is home."

"I see, he mentioned in his letters that the two of you were helping him practice," Remus' mother smiled.

"He is quite good, actually. Just needs to have a bit more confidence in his own abilities," it was almost automatically that Remus answered Sirius' smile, beaming at the clear praise in front of his parents.

"Well, have a nice holiday and I'll see you guys at the end of August," giving them one last nod, Sirius followed his uncle and they stared after them until they disappeared from sight, blending in with all the others around them.

"Cold bastard," James muttered under his breath just loud enough that Remus could catch it with his enhanced hearing and couldn't help but agree. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it hadn't been such a formal greeting between family members.

Especially when Sirius had told James that his Uncle Alphard was one of his two favourite relatives along his cousin Andromeda.

If his favourite family member was this cold, how cold must the rest of the bunch be?

He wasn't sure why he had expected the man to hug his nephew when it was clear Sirius hadn't had any experience with them when they met, but not even a casual touch had been shared and suddenly Remus was a whole lot more grateful for his own loving parents.

"James!"

Remus turned just in time to see James being embraced by two elderly people, clearly his parents as James looked shockingly much like his father while his mother had black, slowly greying hair.

"Mum, Dad, I'd like you to meet Remus and Peter," grey eyes, just a fragment of a shade darker than ones he'd grown to know quite well looked into his own as James' mother smiled at him, but he couldn't do more than gape at her, completely forgetting his manners.

"How..."

"You haven't forgotten that I told you that Sirius and I are related, right?" James snickered. "Mum is a Black from birth, too."

"Oh...right," clearing his throat, Remus became painfully aware of a blush forming rapidly, though the woman only smiled curiously, her eyes warm and kind like Sirius' where his uncle's had been cold.

"He is right, though. Mum, did you know your eyes are almost the exact same shade of grey as Sirius'?" James smiled. "He could easily pass as my little brother due to that!"

"I...all right," his mother's smile was slightly hesitant, though Remus couldn't blame her for the confusion playing across her kind features.

"He is right, you do nearly have the same eye colour," Remus' mum spoke up. "I'm Hope Lupin and this is my husband Lyall."

"Dorea Potter and this is my husband Charlus," the two women shook hands and James' mum turned to them. "You must be Remus and Peter, right?"

"Yes Madam," Remus nodded, shaking her hand in greeting.

"I assume your friend Sirius was already picked up since he's not here?" James' father glanced around. "From what you told me in your letters, I would have liked to meet him. So he has your mother's eyes, huh?"

"His uncle picked him up and they left just before you arrived. He's also got the same dark hair and those inbred patented looks," James grinned easily even as his father shot him a warning look. "But like Mum, he doesn't carry a trace of that arrogance that seems to be bred into the lot of them. You'll love him when you meet him!"

"We will see," James' father chuckled at his son's enthusiasm. "If you are about ready to declare him your little brother, I'm fairly sure I will enjoy meeting him indeed."

"We should get going, Remus."

Nodding to his father, Remus turned back to his friends, clasping hands with James.

"I'll see you in Diagon Alley then?"

"Of course you will, we'll have to grab an ice cream or so while we're at it," James' mind was clearly gearing up about what they could do that day and Remus shared a fond smile with Peter before turning to his parents.

"We'll go there, right?" He asked, fairly sure they'd have no objections and was proven right as they immediately confirmed it.

"I'll send you an owl to confirm everything," James promised. "Don't forget those games you were talking about, though!"

"Honestly, you are almost as bad as Sirius is when it comes to games," Remus chuckled. "I won't forget them, or the books I promised Sirius."

"Good, good," James' grin widened slightly as he patted Remus on his shoulder. "Have a nice holiday."

"You too," smiling once more at his friends, Remus followed his parents after they had said their goodbyes to James' parents, only catching a glimpse of Peter's parents arriving before they disappeared into the crowd and he could no longer see them.

"So, you had a nice year?" His mother smiled at him and grinning Remus began to tell them all about his year and what he's learned and seen and the adventures he had gotten into with his new friends, his father often having to steer him away from walking into others in his excitement but making no move to stop him from talking.

And he wouldn't have been able to stop anyway, unable to wait until their second year would begin, both excited and curious to see what it would bring.

For he knew that no matter what, it certainly wouldn't be boring where his friends were involved and he was proud to be part of their little group.


End file.
